Since the news broke late Thursday afternoon that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg had secured a grand jury indictment of former President Donald Trump, there has been significant speculation as to what would come next in terms of the legal proceedings: Would he be extradited? Would he be arrested? What sort of agreement would his attorneys reach with Bragg’s office regarding the terms of his surrender?
We got a swift answer on extradition from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: No. But that appears to be a moot point as it is now being reported that Trump will be arraigned (brought before the court to formally hear the charges against him and enter a plea) on Tuesday.
Judge Juan Merchan is the trial judge presiding over the case, which stems from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into alleged hush money payments Trump made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump is scheduled to be arraigned at 2:15 p.m. in Merchan’s courtroom on the 15th floor at 100 Centre Street in New York City.
The former president will not be placed in handcuffs.
In addition to Trump’s personal attorney Joe Tacopina, a second source has confirmed that Trump has made arrangements with the district attorney’s legal team to surrender without handcuffs. Detectives with the DA’s office will handle the arrest.
Because he retains a Secret Service detail, the Secret Service will determine the specifics of how Trump is brought in and, in fact, declined Bragg’s initial request that he be brought in on Friday. Instead, the Secret Service was set to meet Friday afternoon with other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, NYPD, and the DA’s office to work out the details of the surrender.
As part of the process, the former president will be fingerprinted and will have a mug shot taken.
