Former President Donald Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts after surrendering to authorities on Tuesday. He entered a plea of not guilty before New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan on all counts, the New York Times reported. Trump was subsequently released.
Scripps News has not independently confirmed the number of criminal counts.
Video cameras were not allowed into the court, Merchan ruled on Monday.
Trump was under investigation for alleged hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels through his attorney Michael Cohen. The payments were made in the leadup to the 2016 presidential election.
Trump is scheduled to return to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for a rally with supporters Tuesday evening.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg took evidence to a grand jury. The grand jury consisted of 23 members who met in secret.
At least 12 of the 23 grand jurors agreed that there was probable cause — meaning it was likely but not certain — that a crime was committed.
Grand jurors are required to keep proceedings a secret. Most of what has been revealed about Trump's grand jury proceeding came from witnesses, who aren't under the same obligation to remain quiet.
It could take months, if not over a year, for Trump to go to trial.
Getting convicted is a much higher bar than being charged.
Grand jurors can still vote for an indictment even if they believe there is reasonable doubt so long they believe it is likely a crime was committed.
While it’s unknown whether Trump’s case will be decided by a jury or a judge, prosecutors must prove Trump committed a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
Michael Scotto, who previously led the Manhattan District Attorney’s racketeering bureau, previously said the case against Trump is not a “slam-dunk.”
“I'm not being critical of the prosecution’s case, but there certainly are issues here that would cause a judge to take some time and review the evidence and the nature of the charges and the applicable law,” Scotto said. “If I had to say, we will not have this case go to trial for another year just on the basis of motions.”
This article will be updated as we learn more.
