Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges of falsifying business records in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday.
The former president is accused of making hush money payments to women claiming they had extramarital affairs with him and thus seeking to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election in the process.
Trump is the first US president, current or former, to ever face criminal charges. Now, his team has until August 8 to file any motions, to which prosecutors can respond by September 19. The judge overseeing the case is expected to rule on any such motions at the next in-person hearing on December 4.
Following his arraignment, Trump attacked the judge, Juan Merchan, in remarks made from Mar-a-Lago.
“You want to get President Trump at any cost,” Trump said. “As it turns out, everyone who has looked at this case … says there is no crime and it should never have been brought. Never have been brought.”
“It’s an insult to our country,” he added, “...and the world is already laughing at us.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had similarly harsh words for DA Alvin Bragg, accusing him of seeking to interfere in the 2024 presidential election, for which Trump remains a candidate.
Alvin Bragg is attempting to interfere in our democratic process by invoking federal law to bring politicized charges against President Trump, admittedly using federal funds, while at the same time arguing that the peoples’ representatives in Congress lack jurisdiction to…
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 4, 2023
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has not issued a statement on the matter.
Trump bump short-lived
Digital World Acquisition Corp, the special-purpose acquisition company merging with Trump Media to take it public, saw its shares surge after the former president’s indictment last week.
The stock jumped nearly 17% Thursday to Monday from $13.06 to $15.25 but was trading nearly 4% lower Wednesday afternoon at $13.50.
Phunware, which developed the Trump/Pence reelection campaign app, saw its shares climb from $0.64 to $0.76 over that span. The stock was 8% lower Wednesday at $0.68.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel