The arraignment of President Trump at a Manhattan courtroom Thursday afternoon could signal a new era in American politics, one where prosecution becomes a form of politics by other means. It marks the first time a former president has been charged with a crime. 

The 45th president — who is also the frontrunner for his party’s 2024 nomination —  pleaded not guilty to a reported 34 felony counts after a journey, captured on camera, that brought him to downtown Manhattan from Trump Tower, after arriving from Mar-a-Lago. 

The bushel of charges — each a separate check or ledger entry —  all center on falsifying business records and relate to hush money payments paid to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, as well as a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, during the 2016 campaign.

At a press conference, Mr. Bragg noted “34 false statements made to cover up other crimes.” He added that “we cannot and will not normalize” this kind of behavior. The grand jury found “34 documents with these false statements.” He described a “catch and kill scheme” to “help Mr. Trump’s chance of winning the election.” 

Mr. Bragg focused on the $130,000 payment to Michael Cohen in connection to the Stormy Daniels affair, which he called “felony conduct in New York state.” He called the charges the “bread and butter” of his office’s white collar work.

When Mr. Bragg was asked why he brought this case after federal prosecutors and his predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., declined to, the prosecutor cited “new evidence” as well as New York’s particular interest in accurate business records as the “financial capital of the world.”   

While falsifying business records is a misdemeanor in New York, it transmutes into a felony if it is in the service of a second crime. The indictment does not appear to touch Mr. Trump’s larger business dealings, which have come under civil scrutiny from Attorney General Letitia James. 

The indictment indicates that Mr. Trump “orchestrated a scheme” in order to “influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects.” 

The case against Mr. Trump relies on Penal Law §175.10, which ordains that a “person is guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree when he commits the crime of falsifying business records in the second degree, and when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.”

One of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, told reporters outside the courthouse that the “district attorney has turned a political issue into a political prosecution.” He called the indictment “boilerplate” and “really disappointing.” Another attorney, Joseph Tacopina, said he was “surprised there were no facts in the indictment.”

Another of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, James Trusty, while on CNN called the indictment “bare bones” and full of “legal frailties” and “legal gymnastics.” He called the indictment’s reliance on Mr. Trump’s state of mind “perilous” and mused that motions to dismiss on behalf of Mr. Trump could “take the case out of play this year.”  

Mr. Tacopina added that discussion of a change of venue was “premature,” despite Mr. Trump’s posting on Truth Social on that New York County is a “Very unfair venue, with some areas that voted 1% Republican.” The former president suggested that “this case should be moved to nearby Staten Island – Would be a very fair and secure location for the trial.” 

On his way to the courtroom, Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform:  “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!”