Donald Trump leaves Mar-a-Lago home for New York ahead of court appearance
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Donald Trump is flying to New York on his private plane ahead of his unprecedented court appearance tomorrow.
The former US president left his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in a motorcade and is expected to stay at Trump Tower in Manhattan overnight before turning himself in to authorities on Tuesday.
He is due to be booked and arraigned on charges stemming from an alleged $130,000 (£105,000) hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign for the White House.
Trump is set to become the first ex-president in the US to be charged with criminal offences.
After arriving at the courthouse in Manhattan on Tuesday, he will be fingerprinted and have a mugshot taken.
He is then due to appear before a judge for an afternoon arraignment – a court proceeding in which the defendant is read the charges in the indictment and asked to enter a plea. He is expected to plead not guilty.
Ms Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump at a Lake Tahoe hotel in 2006. He insists he did not have any such relationship with her.
Trump, a Republican, has denied any wrongdoing and has blasted the investigation as part of a year-long “witch hunt” aimed at damaging his 2024 presidential candidacy.
He has accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the Democrat who led the probe, of trying to hurt his electoral chances.
While on his jet, he posted on his social media platform Truth Social: “WITCH HUNT, as our once great Country is going to HELL!”
A few minutes later, he wrote: “AMERICA FIRST!”
The specific charges in the indictment handed down by a Manhattan grand jury last week have not yet been revealed.
But Trump is facing multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony – the most serious type of offence in the US.
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What you need to know about Trump’s case
It is understood the 76-year-old faces around 30 document-related fraud charges.
The investigation has been scrutinising payments made to Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Yesterday during televised interviews, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said he would pore over the indictment once he receives it and then devise the next legal steps.
