Former President Donald Trump only uttered 10 words in total during his arraignment on 34 felony charges on Tuesday in a New York City courtroom, according to a report.
Trump was indicted last week by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg following an investigation by a grand jury.
Bragg charged Trump had falsified business records in relation to alleged “hush money” payments before the 2016 election to two women who had alleged they had both had affairs with Trump.
Trump has denied the affairs and also pleaded not guilty to each criminal charge.
The Washington Post obtained a courtroom transcript from Trump’s closed-door arraignment.
According to the newspaper, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy asked Judge Juan Merchan to prevent Trump from sharing details about the case online.
Conroy also claimed he was concerned about Trump’s tone on social media.
Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s attorneys, defended the former president’s online response to charges against him.
He categorized Trump’s response as appropriate and non-threatening.
“He has rights,” Blanche added. “He’s allowed to speak publicly.”
Merchan ordered all parties to refrain from making incendiary comments and asked Trump how he pleaded to the charges.
“Not guilty,” Trump said.
From there, there was a debate as to whether there was a conflict of interest between Trump and Joe Tacopina, one of his attorneys.
Tacopina, the DA’s office argued, had previously been contacted by Stormy Daniels and he declined to represent her.
Merchan asked Trump if he knew he had the right to what he called “conflict-free representation.”
“Yes,” Trump said in response.
Merchan told Trump he was free to discuss the issue with his attorneys, Trump stated, “Okay, thank you.”
The judge, who donated to Joe Biden before the 2020 election, then informed Trump it would be in the best interest of his defense if he chooses to attend all of his court proceedings.
When asked if he understood, Trump responded, “Yes.”
Merchan then asked Trump if he understood he could be removed from any proceeding in the future if he was disruptive.
“I do,” Trump said in response.
Trump was then asked if he understood he could be tried in absentia if he made the decision not to appear.
“Yes,” he said.
The arraignment lasted roughly one hour and no cameras or microphones were allowed inside the courtroom. Merchan agreed with Trump’s attorneys that allowing the public to view the proceeding would create a “circus-like atmosphere.”
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