Donald Trump left Trump Tower at approximately 1 pm today and entered his armored vehicle, with his full Secret Service protection detail. According to the New York Times, Trump “traveled alone in a car with Secret Service agents.” His lawyers and aides traveled in other cars. While on the road to the courthouse, Trump posted this on Truth Social:
oh man he's posting from his ride to court pic.twitter.com/3i1Hj6H2EF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 4, 2023
Holy yikes. When he arrived at the courthouse for his surrender, everything seemed to go smoothly and quickly – arrangements had been made ahead of time for Bigly Christ Superstar, and he was in court for his arraignment by 2:30. Before the arraignment, he was fingerprinted but not handcuffed.
Former President Donald J. Trump entered the courtroom for his arraignment at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, taking his first steps into life as a criminal defendant and facing dozens of felony charges for his role in the payment of hush money to a porn star days before the 2016 presidential election.
In a remarkable spectacle playing out before a divided nation, Mr. Trump’s 11-vehicle motorcade had arrived just before 1:30 at the district attorney’s office, part of the towering Manhattan Criminal Courts Building. While in custody, he was fingerprinted, but special accommodations were made for him: He spent only a short time in the office before his court appearance and most likely was not handcuffed nor was a mug shot likely taken.
With fears of protests and Trump-inspired threats, his movements in and around the courthouse were highly choreographed by the Secret Service, the New York City Police Department, court security and the district attorney’s office, which has been investigating Mr. Trump for nearly five years.
Before now, Trump and his team believed that most of the counts in the previously sealed indictment were misdemeanors. They were shocked today when the indictment was unsealed and it was revealed that Trump will be prosecuted for 34 FELONIES. Trump pleaded not guilty, but he’s got to feel a little shaken. Oh well! So how are we feeling on this glorious day? I’m feeling… fine. Not gleeful, not sad. Just kind of like: it is what it is. F–k this guy. (Edited to add additional photos)
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Getty.
F–k this guy is pretty much how I feel too.
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
Oh happy day, ah happy day.
I’m totally with you.
Trump looks and is evil to the core as are his sons.
Aww karma that patient gangster. To quote stormi Daniels…”this p***y grabbed back”. But can the Pandora’s box ever be closed.
Completely agree. I thought I’d feel absolutely jubilant but instead feel kind of sad, like why did this not happen years ago?! I feel awful for all my American friends that you had to live through this tosspot. Let’s hope he gets the comeuppance he deserves but unfortunately I doubt it 😔xx
Agree 100% Lola.
The damage he did to the US is done. We are still feeling the effects. He lifted the rock and all manner of slime came out into the light.
Even with 34 felony counts, I have so little hope that anything will stick.
Are they making him stay in jail, or letting him go back to Trump Tower? Because if it’s the latter, they can fck right off
He’s going back to Mar A Lago and plans to speak tonight when he gets back there. 🤮
The trial is not scheduled and it could be quite a wait, which is standard for white collar crimes. Fani Wilis’ case in Fulton County case plus Jack Smith’s Maralago docs and J 6 cases are the ones that bring ALL the thunder. Trump wasn’t allowed his (desired) speeches before and after arraignment – f-k that noise, you don’t get to turn this into a rally.
NY state just had bail reform. For nonviolent crimes, he’s eligible to be released until trial. Apparently, he’s not considered a flight risk, but I still haven’t heard if they took his passport.
Can you imagine being a Secret Service Protection Officer and this is your job today?
You are highly trained, extremely professional, sworn by oath and honor to do your best, including putting your own life in danger to protect your assigned Former President AND you have to do your job while, basically, prep walking that garbage con man?
Bless you SS. If you are assigned to Trump duty, may you be re-assigned quickly.
As for The Donald…Drop Dead you crook.
Trump has a lot of SS who are fully team Trump. Pence not going with the secret service on J 6 may have saved his life. There’s a reason Biden has the same SS officers he had as VP- too many were compromised.
Yep. I say the team Trump Secret Service agents get to guard him if he is convicted and arrested. He probably won’t have to go to a rap jail but they can stay under house arrest together
The irony of using SS & its historical meaning is not lost here. If we do not pay attention, history repeats itself…
The SS (Schutzstaffel, or Protection Squads) was originally established as AH’s personal bodyguard unit. It would later become both the elite guard of the Nazi Reich and H’s executive force prepared to carry out all security-related duties, *without regard for legal restraint*.
I would not bet money on SS being “fully team Trump.” During his administration 100%, absolutely, but that changes under the Biden administration. They have to be law and order first.Now that we know Garland was busy planting informants elsewhere in his first month we can suspect the SS and Maralago hotel staff to include a few.
Pisses me off my taxpayer dollars are paying for this POS’s SS. If he’s convicted they should be relieved of their duties and assigned to something else.
Also? Donnie looked rather sedated today, probably had to shoot him up with elephant tranquilizers to calm him down enough for court. No doubt he’ll snort a bunch of adderall and/or coke on the way back to Mar-A-Lardass to get pumped for his perp speech tonight.
This is late, but: I have a few SS friends, and consensus is that the whole White House detail turned full clustef*ck as soon as Trump was elected. Ole’ SupersizeMe refuses to bend to regular laws; why would he listen to his security? Most longterm agents left for less-dysfunctional fed jobs, but the ones who stayed on are either (A) young, green, and need a chance to shine, or (B) “conservative.” SS culture is pretty militaristic like DEA, so filled with a bunch of ex-military dudes, if that tells you anything.
It never ceases to amaze me that the US military produces such intellectual and strategic giants as leaders, as well as dumb-as-f*ck grunts who glom onto their cult leaders. I mean, it makes sense — a military relies on programmed followers — but you’d hope there would be a modicum of sense instilled in them, too.
If you are going to die on a hill, why oh oh why make it such a stinky turd hill?
I have no legal background at all. Is 34 felonies a big deal (I mean, it seems like it SHOULD be…)?
But then this is Trump and stuff just seems to slide off him.
Is 34 felonies a big deal? Not in America. And not after Trump stacked the supreme court. I mean, the supreme court handed Bush Jr. the presidency when Al Gore really won, and THAT version of the court isn’t as bad as the current one. Trump isn’t going to jail.
34 felonies is a big deal. There’s a much bigger chance of at least one of them getting a conviction. I can’t wait to read the list of them.
Also, this is just the first round of charges. Jack Smith is barreling ahead with his case, which could possibly include espionage/treason level charges, and at the least has obstruction at the federal level. Fani in Georgia has him on tape conspiring to commit election fraud.
He might get a wrist slap for this set of charges, but his people aren’t showing up for the big show and he’s most likely going to be under a gag order shortly, which will make him boring. And being boring ends him.
Ooh, a gag order. Thank heavens!
We didn’t get the gag order.
No gag order at the arraignment, but he was warned about the possibility. Then he left and posted a photo of the judge’s daughter. We’ll see how that goes down, I’m guessing it’s strike 1 and 2 at the least.
@Lucy, that’s insane! that’s got to be seen as an obvious threat, doesn’t it?
Yeah they are a bigly deal (sorry can’t stop myself). Felonies are over a year sentence usually and having 34 felonies charged rather than 1 or 2 and a bunch of misdemeanors greatly increases the chances they are pushing for actual jail time.
It’s an extremely big deal. No matter what he says, Trump is terrified. Remember how just recently Trump people were running to the media saying the DA didn’t have a case & the indictment would be pushed back weeks or months? Or the people saying they’d never indict a former President? Or that nothing ever happens to Trump? All wrong.
He’s facing these charges, plus (as Lucy mentions) investigations in other jurisdictions–and with the worst lawyers he’s ever had. Trump is a mob boss who happened to become President–and we have a long history of jailing mob bosses.
It’s a big deal but not terribly uncommon. In cases of white collar crime like this it’s a common prosecutorial tactic to to bury the accused in charges to improve the likelihood of a conviction or a plea deal.
Falsifying business records is often used to make cases against mobsters.
Feeling weirdly disconnected from the whole thing. His presidency was traumatic; I think I’ve shut down all feeling when it comes to MAGA
Exactly! It’s not a rush but it does feel pleasant.
Agreed! I just feel like after the entire country had to live through the trauma of his endless crime spree while in office; I am ready for him to have a few moments of discomfort…fear about the future…oh bleep what is going to happen thoughts etc…
Agreed. For so long I have wished for this day, but now I feel nothing.
Same here. It’s taken so long, and the🍊💩 has gotten away w/everything thus far. I gave up hope, and now, I’m already afraid he’ll be acquitted, Can you imagine how bigly his ego will grow if none of the charges stick?
I feel relief, not elation.
@Neners I feel exactly the same
F-ck this orange guy! May he have long and sleepless nights.
Eleven vehicles to get one man with what – 2 or 3 Secret Service people. I’ll believe it when is is found guilty.
Yet….there is nothing in the American Constitution that says he can’t be president again, even with a record.
Yeah the other 10 cars were for his ego
Who is paying for all those cars? The SS (!) isn’t using all of them, and I hope to god the American taxpayer isn’t paying the bill.
So who thinks he is going to try to flee to Dubai or similar soon.
For sure. He is at his core a coward
@KKAT, More likely to flee to Russia
MAGA apparently now stands for My Arse Got Arrested
And “Making attorneys get attorneys.”
Especially if they want to get paid!
Bet they don’t let him have hairspray in prison…
No Hair Dye in prison either.
He really looks unhappy and I’m enjoying it.
Same. I hope every moment is upsetting and scary for him.
Apparently, he spoke so quietly in court that the judge had to tell him to speak up, perhaps the reality of the situation is finally sinking in, that he is Teflon no more.
Since they are letting him go back to MAL, will he have an ankle monitor? Not that I think he’ll bolt. I just like the thought of him walking around with that thing, knowing he’s no better than any other defendant.
I hear the part about the ankle monitor meaning that he’s no better than the other perps, but i do think there are certain people for whom reality testing doesn’t mean what it does for the rest of us.
A GPS ankle monitor would make him feel like he has real street cred. He would use it to rile up his base even more. I would feel sorry for the poor person that would have him assigned to them to monitor. That’s one hot potato that every probation officer is screaming ‘not it!’ One slip and you lose your career over this schmuck. Or having Magat’s harassing them when they find out who’s supervising him.
Yay, Trump’s days in court have begun. This might be small annoying charges (ie, like paper cuts doused in lemon juice), but he’s probably going to go to trial here around when the Republican primary commences. And there are more charges to more serious crimes awaiting him. 34 felonies to start him off. Nice!
I’m thinking A) Drop Dead. B) Jail time. C) Somebody make certain he can’t flee the country. D) Is there any way we can sue him to get some money back for the US Taxpayers?
I had no idea the NY DA has been investigating him for 5 years, that is not cheap. They better make something stick!
I feel let down. I wanted him perp walked in handcuffs.
Charges?
#1. Treason #2. Inciting a riot. #3. Anything else they can throw at him.
We ALL know he is eating dinner with his lawyers tonight. Mel and Ivanka are “unavailable”
I love your ABCD and couldn’t agree more! From your lips to god’s ears 🙏x
I’m gleeful. I don’t know enough about the law to know what sort of punishment he could get for this, but at least his reality has been shaken. He’s realizing he’s not above the law and things can, and will, get even worse for him. He deserves every uncomfortable, painful, embarrassing moment that comes to him.
Wow they even charged the payments to the doorman to cover up his alleged live child! They made sure to cover everything! Both payments to the women and the doorman. He was certainly busy paying people off.
Everyone but his attorneys and contractors it would seem.
I do love how he’s getting indicted for the ONE time he actually paid someone for their service.
Alleged live child? What’s this now? Trump might have a secret unknown till now child?
How old would this child be?
I vaguely remember this from the Enquirer scandal. Davis Pecker paid off the doorman it’s all so sleepy. I genuinely feel sorry for the alleged love child. Yikes is an understatement
It was found to be false. When Pecker tried to get the agreement with the doorman cancelled, Trump told him to wait until after the election. Further proof that this was all about winning the election, not sparing Melania’s feelings. Melania couldn’t care less. For people wondering what is the underlying crime which makes all the falsifying business records a felony, it was the “catch and kill” scheme to suppress all negative Trump stories so he could win.
Honestly that makes it better somehow lol
This reminds me of the Mueller Report/ impeachment days, when people were like “Is this it? Did we get him?” We have learned that there’s no depths he won’t go to, nothing that will shame him – all we can do is try to hold him to account and try to dissuade/ deprogram his followers.
I think we should focus more on why these large payments to these women are crimes – it’s because he tried to claim them as business expenses and charge the campaign. Paying off people for their silence is not actually illegal – actual billionaires and corporations do it all the time, unfortunately.
One has to ask, why didn’t this successful businessman simply pay off these women himself? Surely a few hundred thousand is chump change to someone who claims to be so wealthy. Why did he try to get his campaign to pay for it? And why did he (allegedly) try to get out of paying what was owed? These are the actions of a deadbeat loser, and we should be talking about them as such every chance we get.
Friendly reminder that Michael Cohen was sentenced to 3 yrs in jail for conspiring with…Donald T.
A person can’t “conspire” by themselves -Trump had to be indicted as a co- conspirator at some point.
“Cohen was sentenced to prison in December 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes. In all, he spent about 13 1/2 months behind prison walls and a year and a half in home confinement.
The campaign finance charges came after he helped arrange payouts during the 2016 presidential race to keep the porn actor Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal from making public claims of extramarital affairs with Trump. Trump has denied the affairs.“
And who are these women willing to have sex with him-he’s disgusting! I shiver at the thought of that ghoul being near me!
Oh, he was hiring them. It’s very generous to call them “affairs.” Nobody volunteering to touch that mushroomdick for free! Melania is probably more than happy for him to be paying for it elsewhere.
Pay upfront. Then pay for silence, with campaign funds disguised as legal payments. That’s how he rolls.
And he got sent back when he wouldn’t agree to the conditions of not writing his book. But he fought it and was able to finish with house arrest thanks to Covid and has a great podcast. Mea Culpa.
I’m feeling relieved, but Trump doesn’t have to go back to court for this until December? So, yeah, it’s going to take a while to see any real results. For today, I’ll take MTG fleeing her own protest after 3 minutes. Thank you New Yorkers!’
I could watch the video of that for hours just put it on repeat
Me too. I loved his ugly pouty face and he was really freaked out. I kept chanting “Lock him up!”
Yeah, NYC turned up and turned out! There’s a very enjoyable piece about this in the Guardian today. NYC was onnit!
New Yorkers don’t play and there was absolutely no chance of a Jan 6 reprise here with Trump trying to stir the pot. He got muzzled. MTG also got fair warning from Mayor Adams and New York followed up.
Isn’t there a gag order in place? How can he speak about his arrest/indictment with a gag order? He’s already raised 5 million dollars off this!
There is no gag order, but Trump has been admonished by the judge not to incite violence or disrupt any of the proceedings.
Well, that’s a relief! I’m sure he’ll stick to it.
If they keep him sedated between now and the end of the trial.
He should be locked up for not following what the judge told him. Lock his ass up and throw away the key. He’s a disgusting pig who is personally the reason January 6th took place. He called his animals to take action. He has no soul! Neither do any of his animals who attacked the Capitol. There is a special place in HE double hockey sticks for him, his animals, his minions, family, and for anybody else who was involved on January 6th.
@shanaynay — No, they are not animals, and they are not monsters. They are all people. If you lose sight of that, you become like them. They do need to face justice, and what they did was terrible, but if you think only some kind of inhuman monstrosities can do evil, you’re well on the path to doing evil yourself.
He can still be president if convicted, BUT how can he be president if he’s in jail? Lock him up! Also, look at his eyes closely. He’s exhausted! Hope this is really f-cking up his psyche.
Whatever happens with this case, it was worth it just to see Trump’s whipped puppy demeanor. Don’t tell me this doesn’t bother him. For a couple of hours, he had no control over his life. It was wonderful to see. And I’m hoping for more sad faces with more indictments.
So, he claims to be a billionaire but he uses campaign money to pay the hush money out?
If he had $$, wouldn’t he just use his own cash?
I’m not a vile, phony scumbag so I guess I’m too dumb to be Trump.
He’s not a billionaire, he’s a con artist and he’s not anywhere near as rich as he says. But yes, if he’d paid them off with his own funds, it wouldn’t have been a crime. It’s the using campaign funds, and then evading taxes and falsifying documents about all of it that he’s in trouble for. He’s also fund raising for his defense, which again, billionaires don’t do.
Michael Cohen said he thinks Trump is “terrified.” Damn, that sounds so good. ” Terrified. ” Too bad he avoided the hand cuffs.
I’m all “Come thru, Georgia!” Those are the charges I’m most interested in….
They couldn’t cuff him, because his hands were too small! 😂
Not yet gleeful but glad to be finally feeling hopeful.