'Very intense': Trump pleads not guilty, 'definitely glared at the D.A. Bragg'

President Donald Trump (Official White House photo)

Donald Trump "definitely glared" at Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who indicted the former president Tuesday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with his alleged role in hush-money payments toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump vocally pleaded "not guilty" to all counts before Judge Juan Merchan, an avowed Democrat whose daughter has reportedly worked for Kamala Harris.

"It is not just about one payment," said Bragg.

Jake Gibson, a federal law-enforcement producer for Fox News, said after Tuesday's arraignment : "I think it's worth noting, President Trump definitely glared at the D.A. Bragg when he left.

"He seemed to get up, look around the room. .. and then lock his eyes on Alvin Bragg."

"Trump was the last one to walk in the hearing. And this was pretty intense. It's not a huge room but there's probably 50 reporters in there. There were 15, 20, 25 law enforcement officials that were on the end of each row."

Alvin Bragg has shut down the entire city, called up 38,000 NYPD police officers, closed down the FDR Drive and is spending an estimated $200 million of city funds, all for a $130,000 NDA. I never thought I would see this level of corruption in the United States.

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) April 4, 2023

Gibson continued: "There was Secret Service agents in there. There were the court police. There were just a lot of police in there. And they were very strict with the press. 'We will kick you out of here. We see a phone, we'll kick you out.' People would try to sit up a little bit to look. 'Sit down!' This was a very serious ... it was very intense in there."

Will Donald Trump emerge unscathed from this drama?

Gibson added: "Judge Merchan was very measured. He did not seem to have any beef with President Trump. I think he went out of his way to make sure that he was showing everyone that he could be very fair about this."

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Prosecutors claim Trump "repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."

Alvin Bragg (Video screenshot)

Shortly before the arraignment Trump said on social media, "Very unfair venue, with some areas that voted 1% Republican. This case should be moved to nearby Staten Island – would be a very fair and secure location for the trial. Additionally, the highly partisan judge & his family are well known Trump haters. He was an unfair disaster on a previous Trump related case, wouldn't recuse, gave horrible jury instructions, & impossible to deal with during the witch hunt trial."

However the change of venue issue was not brought up during the hearing.

There were concerns the judge might issue a gag order in this case, especially after Trump comments were displayed, including one showing Trump holding a baseball bat near Bragg's head. But no gag order was issued.

The judge, though, did request of Trump and his attorneys to refrain from any incendiary comments that could incite violence, according to Gibson.

The prosecution said they would like a trial in January 2024, in the heat of the presidential primaries.

The judge said he wanted to move forward expeditiously.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Question: Why do the political and corporate leaders of America – long the freest, most successful, most prosperous and most Christian nation in history – bow and scrape before China, a ruthless, communist, totalitarian and explicitly atheistic dictatorship openly committed to ruling the world, including America?

The astonishing answers come into focus only when one contemplates both the unprecedented level of political and financial corruption in America’s ruling class (multiple Biden family members received $31 million in payola from China), and simultaneously the communist Chinese government’s brilliantly devious methods of unconventional total warfare, by which China is stealthily infiltrating, subverting, corrupting and colonizing the United States of America.

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