Former US President Donald Trump will be arrested on Tuesday and informed of 34 felony charges for falsifying business records. A source who has been briefed on the arraignment procedures disclosed that a New York City police arrest report will be prepared, and the charges will be entered into the court system before Trump is formally arraigned on the charges.
Although none of the charges are misdemeanors, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office does not plan to put Trump in handcuffs, a jail cell, or subject him to a mug shot, which are typical procedures for white-collar defendants. This is because they concluded there is no reason to treat a former president protected at all times by a group of Secret Service agents like that.
The charges of falsification of business records can be prosecuted in New York State as a misdemeanor. However, Bragg’s office has elevated all the charges to Class E felonies, which are the lowest level of felonies in the New York State penal code, on the grounds that the conduct was intended to conceal another underlying crime, according to the source.
Under the New York State penal code, a conviction for the Class E felony of falsifying business records can result in a prison term of up to four years. Nevertheless, it is improbable that Trump will get jail time as a first offender.
It is not yet clear what evidence exists for the underlying crime that raised Trump’s alleged misdemeanors to felonies, and it will remain unclear until the indictment is unsealed on Tuesday. However, it is believed to be related to the payment of $130,000 in hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in the closing weeks of the 2016 election to conceal an extramarital encounter with Trump.
After this news was posted, a Trump spokesman claimed that the former president’s legal team had not seen the indictment or been briefed on the details. Trump himself responded with a post on TruthSocial, claiming that District Attorney Bragg had illegally leaked information about the indictment.
Key Highlights
- Donald Trump will be charged with 34 felony counts for falsification of business records.
- Trump will not be handcuffed or put in jail until pretrial conditions are weighed in by a judge.
- Charges against Trump were bumped up to Class E felonies due to alleged attempt to conceal payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels.
