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Trump arraignment expected about 2:15 p.m. in New York court.
Trump scheduled a speech at 8:15 p.m. from Mar-a-Lago.
A lawyer for key witness Michael Cohen contends he has evidence to back up hush money payments.
Donald Trump is set to be arraigned Tuesday in New York, a historic moment as the first former president ever to face criminal charges and a dramatic backdrop for the 2024 presidential race as he campaigns again for the White House.
The high-stakes case represents risks for Trump, who faces possible criminal penalties if convicted, and also Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who Republicans including Trump have vilified as politically motivated.
The seediness of the allegations allowed Republicans to shrug off charges. Witnesses said Trump arranged for his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to pay two women for their silence before the 2016 election. Trump denied wrongdoing and noted Cohen is a convicted liar. Trump’s rivals for the GOP nomination have criticized Bragg, with some saying voters should decide the former president’s fate.
Trump has boasted about overcoming previous investigations including special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election and two House impeachments that resulted in Senate acquittals over his dealings with Ukraine and his role in the Capitol attack Jan. 6, 2021.
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However the New York case is resolved, Trump faces other investigations in Georgia over alleged election fraud and from the Justice Department over whether he incited the Jan. 6 attack and the discovery of hundreds of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The arraignment marks the start of criminal proceedings. Bragg announced the indictment Thursday and is expected to unveil the detailed charges Tuesday.
Trump is expected to have his mug shot and fingerprints taken, have the formal charges read and then plead not guilty “loudly and proudly,” his lawyer Joe Tacopina told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. But the details haven’t been nailed down because the Secret Service will accompany Trump, Tacopina said.
