2:54 p.m. Tuesday
Former President Donald Trump left the Miami courthouse with plans to return to his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf resort.
The Republican presidential candidate is expected to make public comments around 7:30 p.m. CT before invited guests.
Tuesday’s arraignment was 47 minutes long, according to reports.
Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, waived a formal reading of the indictment and requested a jury trial. Trump was ordered to avoid interacting with witnesses involved in the indictment.
2:03 p.m.
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday entered a not-guilty plea to a 37-count federal indictment in a Miami federal courtroom.
Trump, wearing a red tie and dark suit, was booked earlier on allegations he mishandled classified information.
“We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty,” Todd Blanche, Trump’s lawyer, told the magistrate judge.
Blanche also was with Trump in April when he was arraigned in a New York state court for alleged hush-money payments to a porn star.
This might not be Trump’s last arraignment. Georgia is investigating Trump in the wake of his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state.
Federal court proceedings are not televised. Journalists and members of the public were allowed inside and reported what happened.
The courtroom was on the 13th floor of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in downtown Miami.
1:25 p.m.
A Trump spokesperson, Alina Habba, read a statement on the former president’s behalf outside the courthouse.
She also made comments to CBS News about future courtroom appearances.
“As the case moves forward, you will now hear his side,” she told CBS. “You will see us do discovery. You will hear us get to do depositions, that is what I’m saying. That is the context that is missing.”
“An indictment is one-sided: it is the prosecutors bringing in who they want, asking the question as they want without their lawyers present, and then putting together a story for the American people, unfortunately, to see in a manner they want. So, now it’s our turn.”
1:10 p.m.
A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said the booking process has been completed for former President Donald Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta, who also was indicted.
1 p.m.
Former President Donald Trump, 76, arrived on Tuesday afternoon at the federal courthouse in downtown Miami for his arraignment.
The indicted former commander-in-chief left his golf resort in Doral, Florida, around 12:30 CT for his 2 p.m. CT appearance, where he will be charged in a case involving classified documents. He arrived at 12:50 p.m. CT.
On his way to court, Trump posted on his Truth Social site.
“ON MY WAY TO COURTHOUSE. WITCH HUNT!!! MAGA,” Trump wrote in all capital letters.
Federal and local officials increased security ahead of his arrival.
A chant of “We love Trump” broke out as his motorcade drove by. One person was holding a “Let’s Go Brandon” flag.
Federal magistrate Jonathan Goodman will preside over the hearing.
Trump will not be put in handcuffs or have a mugshot taken, Fox News reported.
12:45 p.m.
Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz told The Washington Post he will support Trump if he’s the Republican nominee.
“I will enthusiastically support the Republican nominee, but that’s a decision for the voters to make,” Cruz said.
11:45 a.m.
One of Trump’s opponents for the GOP presidential nomination was outside the courthouse earlier Tuesday and held a news conference.
Vivek Ramaswamy called on other Republicans to commit to pardoning Trump if he is convicted, also asking Democratic candidates Robert Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson to take the pledge.
“The use of police force by a sitting U.S. president against his chief political rival in the midst of a presidential election sets a dangerous precedent in our country,” Ramaswamy said in a press release.
“No one is above the law: the U.S. president shouldn’t be able to use the federal police to arrest his opponents,” the tech entrepreneur added.
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