Former President Donald Trump was charged Tuesday in a Manhattan court with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Trump, the leading Republican in the 2024 race for the White House, pleaded not guilty to the charges and shortly after departed from New York City for his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The charges, which are related to hush money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, came out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation.
LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP EN ROUTE TO MAR-A-LAGO AFTER PLEADING NOT GUILTY
Trump is expected to address his supporters from Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening.
Trump surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and was arraigned in court Tuesday afternoon after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week.
TRUMP PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO 34 FELONY COUNTS OF FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS
The indictment was unsealed in court during Trump’s arraignment Tuesday before Judge Juan Merchan, the trial judge presiding over the case.
Bragg is alleging that Trump falsified New York business records in order to “conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”
“During the election, TRUMP and others employed a ‘catch and kill’ scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects,” Bragg alleged. “TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this article.