Donald Trump — the first former president in history to face criminal charges — is in New York for an arraignment today, after being indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury.
Here is what we know about today’s events:
- The Secret Service is scheduled to accompany Trump to the district attorney’s office, which is in the same building as the courthouse.
- Trump will be booked by the investigators, which includes taking his fingerprints. Ordinarily, a mug shot would be taken, but sources familiar with the preparations were uncertain as to whether there would be a mugshot, because Trump’s appearance is widely known and authorities were concerned about the improper leaking of the photo, which would be a violation of state law.
- Typically, after defendants are arrested, they are booked and held in cells near the courtroom before they are arraigned. But that won’t happen with Trump. Once the former president is finished being processed, he’ll be taken through a back set of hallways and elevators to the floor where the courtroom is located. He’ll then come out to a public hallway to walk into the courtroom.
- Trump is not expected to be handcuffed, as he will be surrounded by armed federal agents for his protection.
- Trump is expected to be brought to the courtroom, where the indictment will be unsealed and he will formally face the charges. After he is arraigned, Trump will almost certainly be released on his own recognizance. It is possible, though perhaps unlikely, that conditions could be set on his travel.
- Ordinarily, a defendant who is released would walk out the front doors, but Secret Service will want to limit the time and space where Trump is in public. So instead, once the court hearing is over, Trump is expected to walk again through the public hallway and into the back corridors to the district attorney’s office, back to where his motorcade will be waiting.
- Then he’ll head to the airport so he can get back to Mar-a-Lago, where he’s scheduled to speak publicly that evening.
source- cnn