Former U.S. President Donald Trump flew into New York City on his private plane on Monday to face charges stemming from a probe into hush money while his lawyers argued against letting cameras in the courtroom.
With New York taking security precautions and the mayor telling potential "rabble-rousers" to behave, Trump was due to surrender at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Tuesday and will likely be fingerprinted prior to appearing before a judge for an arraignment where he will plead not guilty.
Trump, a 76-year-old Republican seeking to regain the presidency in 2024, is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.
Yahoo News late on Monday said Trump would face 34 felony counts for falsification of business records. Citing a single source briefed on Tuesday's arraignment procedures, Yahoo said none of the charges against Trump were misdemeanors.
Trump's plane - painted in red, white and blue with "TRUMP" in big letters on the side and an image of the American flag on the tail - arrived at LaGuardia Airport in Queens after a 3-1/2 hour flight from West Palm Beach near his Florida home.
Clad in a blue suit and wearing a red tie, Trump walked alone down a flight of stairs from the airplane and climbed into an SUV for a drive in a motorcade to Trump Tower in Manhattan, where upon arrival he waved to people and walked in without making public comments.
Beefing up his legal team, Trump hired Todd Blanche, a prominent white-collar criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, to join his defense, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Blanche and other Trump lawyers on Monday urged the judge not to allow videography, photography and radio coverage of the arraignment.
In a letter to the court, they argued against allowing such coverage, saying it would "exacerbate an already almost circus-like atmosphere around this case" and "detract from both the dignity and decorum of the proceedings and courtroom."
Justice Juan Merchan was expected to decide the matter on Monday.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said it would leave it to the discretion of the judge, but noted that Merchan allowed a limited number of still photos prior to last year's criminal trial in which Trump's real estate company was convicted of tax fraud.
The Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump heard evidence for months this year about a $130,000 payment to actress Stormy Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent. Trump denies having had any such relationship with her.
Blanche previously represented Paul Manafort, Trump's 2016 campaign chairman, when Manafort was hit with New York state fraud charges after being sentenced to prison for federal crimes.
The state charges were eventually dismissed and Trump pardoned Manafort before leaving office. Blanche also previously represented Igor Fruman, who was an associate of former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani.
The specific charges in the indictment by a grand jury convened by Bragg, a Democrat, have yet to be disclosed. Trump has said he is innocent. He and his allies have portrayed the charges as politically motivated.
A motorcade of several vehicles took Trump at midday from his Mar-a-Lago estate to the airport in nearby West Palm Beach. Trump climbed out of an SUV before he and members of his entourage climbed a set of stairs to enter his plane.
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