MANHATTAN - Donald J. Trump, who has weathered two impeachment trials, a special counsel inquiry and decades of investigations, was accused by Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday of orchestrating a hush-money scheme to pave his path to the presidency and then covering it up from the White House. Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty in the case, which has far-reaching political consequences and opens a perilous chapter in the long public life of the real estate mogul and former president, who now faces the embarrassing prospect of a criminal trial. Mr. Trump, who was indicted on 34 felony counts and stands accused of covering up a potential sex scandal involving a porn star, made an extraordinary appearance at the Criminal Courts Building in Lower Manhattan to face the charges. Even as Mr. Trump’s supporters rallied outside, the former president sat, almost docile, at the defense table, listening as prosecutors described the case against him.
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Overall he said fewer than a dozen words, but at one point leaned forward and entered his plea of “not guilty” in the packed but pin-drop-quiet courtroom, a surreal scene for a man who months ago mounted a third run for the White House.
The hearing was also momentous for the prosecutor who brought the case, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg. Afterward, he made his first remarks since the indictment, punctuating a proceeding that gave his liberal Manhattan base a long-awaited moment of catharsis: Mr. Trump’s first day in court as a criminal defendant.
“Everyone stands equal under the law,” Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, said at a press conference after the arraignment. “No amount of money and no amount of power” changes that, he added.
During the hearing, one of the prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Chris Conroy, brought up threatening posts that Mr. Trump has made online in past weeks, including writing that “death and destruction” would follow if he were to be charged.
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In response, the judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, addressed Mr. Trump’s lawyers, telling them, “Please speak to your client and anybody else you need to, and remind them to please refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest.”