Former President Donald Trump will have a packed schedule for his Tuesday arraignment in Manhattan surrounding charges related to 2016 hush money payments, making his way from Florida to New York and back again in the span of 24 hours.
Trump arrived in New York City on Monday afternoon and will spend the night at Trump Tower ahead of his arraignment for charges to his then-lawyer’s $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
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Because the indictment is sealed, there is much still unknown to the public about details surrounding the case. There’s yet to be a formal announcement of the timeline for the grand jury’s secret work into the case. It’s also unclear why the charges are coming six years after the payoff and how prosecutors intend to get around the Empire State’s statute of limitations, which are two years for misdemeanor offenses and five years for certain felony offenses.
“What will happen in the arraignment is he will enter a plea of not guilty, they will unseal the indictment against him, and we will become aware of what the charges actually are,” Joshua Ritter, a former Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, told the Washington Examiner.
Ritter said Trump’s legal team could be provided with discovery in the case, “including things like police reports, grand jury transcripts.”
“This will be the starting line of the criminal proceedings. Things will become much more transparent after this point,” Ritter added.
Here is a timeline of the former president’s busy schedule before, during, and after his arraignment.
11 a.m. EST arrival at Manhattan-based criminal courthouse
Trump is slated to arrive at the New York City Criminal Courthouse at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, hours ahead of his expected arraignment before Judge Juan Merchan at 2:15 p.m. He is likely to be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken, but there is not expected to be a perp walk or public arrival due to security reasons, his attorney Joe Tacopina told CNN on Sunday.
The former president is expected to be flanked by Secret Service agents when he arrives at the courthouse, and Tacopina has said Trump won’t be handcuffed, and other sources have also indicated the likelihood is slim. Trump will wait in an interview room in the courthouse ahead of the scheduled arraignment.
2:15 p.m. scheduled arraignment before Judge Merchan
The proceedings are slated to take between 15 to 30 minutes, though it could be longer depending on if Trump intends to use his initial appearance to question the nature of the indictment, former Manhattan federal prosecutor Sarah Krissoff of Day Pitney LLP told the Washington Examiner, adding, “That might prolong the appearance.”
Several media outlets have requested Merchan to unseal the indictment and allow the broadcast of Trump’s appearance in court Tuesday, a request Trump’s criminal defense team has said should not occur.
Merchan presided over the case and trial of the Trump Organization and former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, which found the defendants guilty of 17 counts of tax fraud and falsifying business records. The judge did allow for photos to be taken in the courtroom before the commencement of proceedings in this trial.
“We oppose it,” Tacopina told the Washington Examiner in response to the media request.
Trump is expected to return to his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, shortly after the legal proceedings. He might choose to exit the building through the front doors, sources told Fox News on Monday.
Before and after the arraignment, supporters of Trump are expected to be at a park directly across the street from the courthouse at an event promoted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
8:15 p.m. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago speech post-arraignment
Trump announced Sunday he would address the nation from his Mar-a-Lago resort at 8:15 pm EST Tuesday after he is charged.
Some legal experts have speculated the judge could place a gag order that would prevent Trump, attorneys and associates, and family members from speaking about the case. It is not immediately clear how this would affect his speech if the judge made such an order on Tuesday.
Krissoff said there’s a chance the judge could place a “narrowly tailored” order on Trump, though other experts said Trump’s candidacy for the 2024 election might complicate the matter.
“Trump’s camp will most certainly fight such an order, so I anticipate that we may see litigation about this as one of the first orders of business,” Krissoff said.
Two people familiar with the matter have said Trump is facing at least one felony offense, according to the Associated Press.
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Trump’s indictment came after a grand jury investigation into hush money paid during the 2016 presidential campaign to extinguish allegations of an extramarital sexual affair with Daniels. The indictment itself has remained sealed, as is routine in New York before arraignment, and Trump has vehemently denied that the affair ever occurred.
Also announced on Monday was the hiring of a new attorney joining Trump’s team to serve as lead counsel in his defense, Todd Blanche. He joins Tacopina and Susan Necheles, who remain as attorneys on Trump’s legal team.
