Donald Trump expected to fly to New York for court appearance today
Donald Trump is expected to fly to New York around noon today, according to sources in Florida, ahead of his historic arraignment tomorrow on charges of covering up a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
As the former president packs his overnight case this morning at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, there’s a lot swirling both inside and outside the Manhattan courtroom.
District court judge Juan Merchan is expected to rule imminently on a motion filed by several media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post, for permission to broadcast Tuesday afternoon’s hearing.
They also want Merchan to unseal the indictment against Trump, details of which are as yet unclear, other than it contains more than 30 charges and reportedly at least one felony for falsifying documents relating to the pay-off.
In support of the motion, lawyers for the media outlets insist:
The right of access is at its zenith when applied to the first ever indictment of a former US president.
Lawyers for the former president, meanwhile, say they are expecting Merchan to issue a gag order Monday, or at his arraignment, on all parties in the case, after Trump maintained a furious tirade against Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg over the weekend.
Such an order could substantially impact what Trump will have to say in comments he is scheduled to make from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, immediately after returning from New York.
As for today, Trump’s flight is expected to leave Palm Beach international airport at midday, and arrive at LaGuardia airport in New York about 3pm, reports said. He will spend the night at his Trump Tower apartment in Manhattan.
While we await further developments, take a read of my colleague Hugo Lowell’s account here of the ex-president’s plans to stay on offense:
