Former President Donald Trump has arrived in New York City on Monday to face criminal charges related to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump is the first former U.S. president to be indicted by a grand jury.
The specific charges against Trump have not been disclosed and are expected to be unsealed at his arraignment on Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. (1815 GMT) at the Manhattan Criminal Court. His lawyers have said he will plead not guilty and that the case is politically motivated.
Trump flew from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday afternoon and spent the night at Trump Tower in Manhattan. He is scheduled to return to Florida and deliver remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night, his office said.
The indictment stems from an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who took over the case from former District Attorney Cyrus Vance in January. Bragg has said he will treat Trump like any other defendant and that no one is above the law.
The grand jury heard evidence for months about a $130,000 payment made to Daniels by Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen in October 2016. Daniels has said she was paid to keep quiet about a sexual encounter she had with Trump at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006. Trump denies the affair.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and other crimes and was sentenced to three years in prison. He testified before Congress that Trump directed him to make the payment and later reimbursed him.
Trump’s indictment has sparked reactions from his allies and critics. U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted an invitation to join her at a protest near the courthouse on Tuesday, saying “They’re not coming after President Trump, they’re coming after us, he’s just in their way.”