Strangely, he was the reluctant showman – it’s not like him.

Donald Trump kept it low-key as he came and went from the Manhattan court – there were only fleeting glimpses for crowds that turned out to witness the moment.

He offered no comment as he went into court on the 15th floor and no comment as he left, by then a criminal defendant.

The judge rejected a bid to have video cameras in court after Trump’s lawyers warned of a “circus-like atmosphere”.

Yes, Trump’s lawyers. Objecting to cameras. It was a screeching handbrake turn by the history man whose penchant for self-publicity didn’t stretch to the court of criminal prosecution.

Latest updates: Charges against Trump unsealed – live updates

There were still photographs, square-jawed and serious, but in Lower Manhattan, we saw none of the flamboyance that comes as a given wherever he goes.

He was saving it for the home fixture at Mar-a-Lago, where there were fewer of the security concerns he left behind in New York. In more comfortable surroundings, maybe the physical distance also made the legal peril he is in seem far away, too.

And peril it is, certainly according to the prosecution as they made their charges public.

Much of the talk had been about an affair with the porn star Stormy Daniels and a hush money payment to keep it quiet before the 2016 election.

The indictment tells us there’s more.

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Charges against Trump explained

The allegation is that Donald Trump ran a so-called “catch and kill” scheme on several stories. Over and above the Stormy Daniels affair, there was a Trump Tower doorman paid $30,000 (£24,000) to keep quiet a story about Trump fathering a child out of wedlock.

There was also a payment of $150,000 (£120,000) to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed she had an affair with Trump.

The allegation is that the hush money was put through the books as something else and they were payments made to the benefit of Trump’s election campaign in 2016.

Looking at other stories widens the scope of witnesses that can be called and documents that can be used as evidence.

It might also help to portray a pattern of behaviour that points to an established criminal enterprise.

For all the talk about Michael Cohen, Trump’s former Mr Fixit, being the key witness, it looks like he might not be alone.

David Pecker is the former publisher of the National Enquirer magazine and friend of Trump.

Read more:
What are the charges Trump faces?
The key figures in the hush money case
Drama, division and debate surround Trump

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The “statement of facts” released by the district attorney’s office speaks of a 2015 meeting at which Mr Pecker agreed to help with Trump’s campaign, saying that he would act as his campaign’s “eyes and ears” by looking out for negative stories and alerting Trump’s lawyer before they were published.

It notes that his firm admitted to the Department of Justice that it made the payment to Karen McDougal, the Playboy model, and that it was linked to the election.

The former magazine publisher gave evidence to the grand jury that chose to indict Trump. Mr Pecker doesn’t carry the baggage of Michael Cohen, a convicted felon who has been consistently rubbished by Trump’s lawyers as untrustworthy.

For all the talk of a single-star witness, the prosecution of Donald Trump is shaping up as a double act.