Trump Indictment: Former President Arrives For Arrest And Arraignment
04.04.2023 - 18:19
/ deadline.com
Donald Trump arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court for his arrest and arraignment, as he tried to project an image of defiance in the first-ever spectacle of a former president facing an indictment.
Trump waved before he walked into the building, surrounded by his security detail. Just before that, he wrote on Truth Social, “Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”
The exact nature of the charges — believed to be related to so-called hush money payments paid to porn star Stormy Daniels — are expected to be publicly disclosed soon before or at the time his hearing starts, scheduled for 2:15 PM ET. Trump will be processed and fingerprinted beforehand, although there were reports that there would be no mug shot.
Broadcast networks broke into regular programming to cover the scene, while cable networks tracked his motorcade and its four-mile trip from Trump Tower to lower Manhattan.
“This moment at 1:24 Eastern time, Donald Trump is under arrest,” CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said, as the chyron switched to “Donald Trump under arrest and awaiting arraignment.”
On MSNBC, Chris Jansing said that it was worth pausing to consider “the moment that we’ve never been in before, and that is that when he walked into that courthouse, and he was escorted, officially, Donald Trump, former president of the United States, front runner for the Republican nomination for president of the United States, is now under arrest. We have never seen this before. It is a sobering moment.”
On Fox News, John Roberts said, “What we are witnessing is something happening for the first time.”
Some commentators noted that Trump engaged in chants of Lock