Trump arrives in New York ahead of historic arraignment in hush-money case

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

In what will be an historic 24 hours, former President Donald Trump has returned to New York City ahead of his first appearance in a Manhattan courtroom tomorrow.

Amna Nawaz:

Mr. Trump has been indicted on multiple charges connected to hush money payments he allegedly made ahead of the 2016 election.

To shed light on what comes next, I'm joined here with our White House correspondent, Laura Barrón-López.

Laura, good to see you.

Laura Barrón-López:

Good to be here.

Amna Nawaz:

It is historic. It is unprecedented, the first former president in the U.S. to be indicted.

But what do we expect to see tomorrow?

Laura Barrón-López:

So, tonight, he will be staying at Trump Tower, as we know.

And then, tomorrow, when he heads to the courthouse, he is going to be booked, fingerprinted. We don't know if there is going to be a mug shot. There is a possibility there. And then, immediately after that, rather than being held in a cell, which is typical for someone being indicted and going to the courthouse, he will then be transported to the courtroom, and then the indictment will be unsealed, and his — the charges will be read to him and everyone in the courtroom.

Now, what we don't know is if media outlets are going to get access to that courtroom as it's going on. And, if not, then what we can expect is for the indictment to be made public once the former president is in that courtroom.

Amna Nawaz:

We know Mr. Trump has previously called on his supporters to protest if he were to be indicted.

Do we expect any of that to happen tomorrow at his arraignment?

Laura Barrón-López:

We are expecting some protests, because Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a self-described Christian nationalist who has also downplayed the violence of the January 6 insurrection, called on her followers to join her across from the courthouse to protest this indictment and support the former president.

Now, New York City Mayor Eric Adams had this warning today for Greene:

Eric Adams (D), Mayor of New York: And although we have no specific threats, people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is known to spread misinformation and hate speech, she stated she's coming to town. While you're in town, be on your best behavior.

Laura Barrón-López:

Now, in addition to that, the New York Police Department, the commissioner for the police department said that right now there are no credible or specific threats to the city, but that they are on alert and that they are working with national and local law enforcement.

And, in addition to that, tomorrow, we're expecting the former President Trump to then return to Mar-a-Lago and give some remarks after he's arraigned.

Amna Nawaz:

Laura, we should be specific and clear here. This is one investigation into former President Trump. There are other ongoing investigations that could come with charges of their own.

Remind us the details of those.

Laura Barrón-López:

So, in addition to this investigation — well, first, actually, let's count this investigation, so the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into hush money payments that were allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

There's also a Fulton County investigation in Georgia into election interference in 2020. The Department of Justice special counsel is investigating the January 6 insurrection and the former president's potential efforts to overturn the 2020 election there.

And then, again, also the special counsel in the Justice Department is investigating the classified documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago. Now, we should note that The Wall Street Journal — sorry — excuse me — The Washington Post reported that the Justice Department has found more evidence of possible obstruction by Trump.

And what we're talking about there is actions that the former president took to potentially block the investigation — block the return of these classified documents.

Now, another thing we're also watching in regards to the Manhattan district attorney's hush money payments investigation is, when we see the charges tomorrow, whether or not the Manhattan DA is just going to be solely focused on the payments made to Stormy Daniels or also to Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Amna Nawaz:

Things we're going to be waiting and seeing. A lot we don't yet know. We're going to watch and report as we do.

Laura Barrón-López, thank you.

Laura Barrón-López:

Thank you.