WASHINGTON – Live updates on former President Donald Trump's expected surrender on charges stemming from 2016 hush money payments.
What to know:
— Trump's lawyer says former president will maintain innocence
— Crowds lining up outside courthouse
— Police brace for protests
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TRUMP ATTORNEY: ‘NO GUILTY PLEA'
Trump attorney Joe Tacopina said the former president's appearance in court for Tuesday’s arraignment would be brief because the processing “does not take long.”
“It won’t be a long day in court,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
"We know the basis of the indictment and the factual allegations in the indictment,” Tacopina said, adding Trump would maintain his innocence.
“One thing I can assure you as I sit here today, there’ll be no guilty plea in this case. That’s one thing I can guarantee you,” he said.
Tacopina appeared to predict the case would ultimately be dismissed.
“I don’t think this case is going to see a juror,” he said. “I think there’s a legal challenge that will be made and should be made successfully.”
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SPECTATORS LINE UP
Spectators, many of them members of the news media, lined up overnight to get a seat inside the courtroom, or even just a glimpse of Trump, who wasn’t expected until Tuesday afternoon.
The building was surrounded by barricades, and people were undergoing layers of security checks.
The nation’s 45th commander in chief was expected to be escorted from New York City’s Trump Tower — also surrounded by barricades — into a lower Manhattan courthouse by the Secret Service. The building was surrounded by barricades and was under heavy security.
Police braced for protests from supporters of Trump, a Republican who is running for the White House again in 2024. He called the decision by a grand jury to indict him “political persecution and election interference at the highest level.”
Prosecutors investigated money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep the women from going public with claims that they had sex with him.