Photo: Evan Vucci/AP
Donald Trump, days after being indictedon roughly 30 countsstemming from an alleged hush money payment he made to an adult film star in 2016, is expected to be fingerprinted and potentially have his mug shot taken when he surrenders to face charges at a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday.
But the details of an expected mug shot aren’t entirely clear yet, with one of Trump’s attorneys telling CNN’sDon Lemon"there’s no need" for one for such a recognizable figure.
“Mug shots are for people so that you recognize who they are. He is the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country right now, so there’s no need for that. There’s no need for the theatrics,” Alina Habba said.
Habba added that she likes transparency “in certain situations.”
“I do have a problem with leaking of pictures,” she said. “I think that because we’re in a campaign, because he’s the leading GOP candidate, it’s not going to help anything.”
NBC New York cited sources who brought up another potential issue — that there is allegedly no equipment to take a mug shot in the courtroom where Trump will be taken on Tuesday, and that it remains unclear whether equipment can be set up in time for the arraignment.
Mug shots are not public record under New York law, so it’s unclear whether the public would even be able to view a potential mug shot of the 76-year-old former president.
On Monday, his PAC sent out a fundraising email with the subject line, “Tomorrow, I will be arrested,” and his campaign is also selling “I Stand With Trump” T-shirts.
Last Thursday, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict the 76-year-old former president on Thursday, according toThe New York Times,CNNandABC Newssources.
The charges against Trump are expected to be made public Tuesday, when he will stand before a judge for the arraignment — but the arraignmentwon’t be broadcastacross the nation, as New York prohibits the use of cameras in most courtrooms.
Sources have indicated to outlets including CNN that Trumpis expected to face roughly 30 counts— at least some of which are believed to stem from an alleged $130,000 hush money payment being documented as “legal expenses” in the financial records of the Trump Organization.
The indictment stems from analleged affairTrump had with adult film starStormy Daniels, rumors of whichsurfaced in 2018, when theWall Street Journalreported that the then-president hadarranged a $130,000 paymentto the ex-porn star a month before the 2016 election so she’d keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter they’d had years earlier.
While Trump and his longtime lawyerMichael Coheninitially denied the claims of an affair, Cohen later admitted that there was a payment made to the porn star.
Calling it “a private transaction,“Cohen toldThe New York Timesthat he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in 2016. He said Trump had not reimbursed him.
Trump has since admitted he authorized the $130,000 payment, but has continued to deny the underlying claims that the two had an affair or that the payment was in any way connected to his campaign.
Trump, who isactively campaigning for another termin the White House, is the first sitting or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.
source: people.com
