Trump indictment updates: Trump speaks out on charges from Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump is the first former U.S. president to be indicted.

Last Updated: April 4, 2023, 4:02 PM EDT

Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury last week.

He is the first former U.S. president to be indicted.

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Latest headlines:

Here's how the news developed. All times Eastern.
Apr 04, 2023, 3:44 PM EDT

Indictment unsealed

The indictment against former President Donald Trump has been unsealed.

Prosecutors allege Trump "employed a 'catch and kill' scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects," and "went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws."

Former President Donald Trump arrives at court, Apr. 4, 2023, in New York.
Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Prosecutors allege, "In one instance, American Media Inc. ('AMI'), paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman, who claimed to have a story about a child TRUMP had out of wedlock," though the story wasn't true.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in New York City, April 4, 2023.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters

"The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. "The trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the People allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws."

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump appears in court with his legal team, right, for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, in New York City, April 4, 2023.
Former President Donald Trump appears in court with his legal team, right, for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in New York City, April 4, 2023.
Andrew Kelly/Pool via Reuters

Apr 04, 2023, 3:29 PM EDT

Trump leaves courtroom

Former President Donald Trump left the courtroom at 3:25 p.m., nearly one hour after entering the room at 2:28 p.m.

Former President Donald Trump appears in court at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4, 2023.
Seth Wenig/Pool via AFP-Getty Images

Apr 04, 2023, 3:28 PM EDT

Trump pleads not guilty to 34 felony counts

Former President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, according to a source in the courtroom. Trump entered the not guilty plea himself, sources said.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in court for an arraignment in New York City, Apr. 4, 2023.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Trump waited in the courtroom for at least five minutes before Judge Juan Merchan arrived, and rose when the judge said, “all rise.”

“Let’s arraign Mr. Trump, please," Merchan said.

Trump spoke quietly when he addressed the judge, including when he entered his not guilty plea.

In this April 4, 2023, file photo, former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court, in New York.
Seth Wenig/AP, FILE

Todd Blanche, Trump’s new defense attorney, at one point said, “I didn’t realize we were going to be giving opening statements.”

Blanche said Trump was “frustrated” and “upset” and had a right to express his views publicly.

The judge said he was not going to enact a gag order.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Olivia Rubin, Laura Romero and John Santucci

Apr 04, 2023, 2:41 PM EDT

Photo released of Trump at arraignment

A photo has been released of former President Donald Trump sitting between his attorneys at the defense table.

Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court, April 4, 2023, in New York.
Seth Wenig/AP

Still cameras were permitted to take photos in the courtroom before the hearing began, but Judge Juan Merchan barred video cameras from the proceedings.

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