Former President Donald Trump surrendered himself over to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday afternoon and is set to be arraigned before Judge Juan Merchan in New York City’s 100 Centre Street courthouse.
This comes after Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last Thursday.
While some are handcuffed during an arraignment, Trump was not due to making arrangements with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office beforehand. Detectives within the office conducted the arrest of the former president, with various law enforcement agencies present for logistical and security purposes, including the U.S. Secret Service, New York Police Department, FBI, New York State court officers, and the DA’s office.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating Trump for hush money payments made leading up to the 2016 presidential election, including the $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and the $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The payments were made to silence claims of alleged affairs with Trump, which he has repeatedly denied. Despite investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Election Commission, federal prosecutors and the commission opted out of charging Trump on the Daniels payment in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
Trump has accused the DA’s investigation and indictment as “political persecution” and “election interference.” He has labeled it as another example of Democrats’ efforts to “destroy the Make America Great Again movement” and a “witch-hunt” like previous investigations during his presidency. “Never before in our Nation’s history has this been done,” Trump argued. The arraignment of a former President and leading 2024 Republican presidential nominee is a significant event for the country and politics.
