Donald Trump has reportedly pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Media reports say the ex-president entered the plea today in a heavily guarded New York courtroom — the first former commander-in-chief in U.S. history ever to do so.
Live television coverage showed a stone-faced Trump, clad in his trademark dark suit and red tie, follow his legal team into the courtroom for his arraignment.
He was equally stoic — and uncharacteristically silent — as he left the courtroom about an hour later.
Outside, Manhattan was under lockdown as a phalanx of police officers used barricades to separate Trump's loyal supporters from a group of anti-Trump protesters.
The charges flow from the Stormy Daniels affair, in which "hush money" payments were made during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of extramarital sexual encounters.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation has focused on payments that were made to Daniels, a porn star, as well as to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.