Donald Trump was arraigned Tuesday on 34 felony charges relating to hush money payments surrounding the 2016 election.
Trump pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer Todd Blanche told reporters the charges were "what we expected," but the court filings from the Manhattan district attorney's office did include some surprises.
Here are some highlights and key takeaways from the indictment and the arraignment:
Trump was hit with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, a class E felony in New York. Each charge carries a maximum of four years in prison, which in most cases would be served concurrently. Legal analysts have said it is unlikely Trump would serve any prison time.
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The charge can be a misdemeanor in New York, but it's raised to a felony level if the act was committed to cover up a crime, which is what prosecutors allege happened. Each count accuses Trump of having acted "with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof."
But nowhere in the indictment did Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg say what the other crime was. Much of the legal speculation about the case had centered on that, leaving legal pundits still wanting more information.
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