Donald Trump will make his first court appearance on Tuesday after being charged with 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency. He is set to appear at 3pm at the federal courthouse in Miami.
It will be Trump’s second arraignment this year. In April, he was arraigned in Manhattan on separate criminal charges related to his hush money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
What is an arraignment and how is it different from an indictment?
The document when someone is charged with a crime is called an indictment – the indictment involving Trump was unsealed on Friday. An arraignment is a defendant’s first appearance in front of a judge in a criminal case.
The defendant is formally notified of the charges against them and enters a plea. The judge who oversees the arraignment considers whether to grant bail and allow the defendant to be released pending trial. The judge who oversees the arraignment may not be the same judge who oversees the rest of the case.
What is going to happen when Trump shows up in court?
Trump’s initial appearance is likely to be brief. He will be formally presented with the 37 criminal charges against him and informed of the penalties, and then he can enter a plea. Trump will almost certainly plead not guilty.
Defendants can choose to have the indictment read to them in open court, but many choose to waive that in order to get the hearing over quickly, said Barbara McQuade, who served as the US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan from 2010 to 2017.
The judge can also set bail and decide to detain a defendant in custody while trial is pending.
“The judge will consider the bail issue, but I would be stunned if Trump were held pending trial. A more likely scenario is that Trump will be ordered to surrender his passport and promise to pay some sum of money if he fails to appear,” McQuade said in an email.
“The court may consider as a condition of bond some sort of gag order prohibiting Trump from discussing the case, the prosecutor or the judge, but that can be tricky in light of first amendment concerns because Trump is running for president,” she added.
Defendants in federal cases are often fingerprinted and have their mugshot taken, McQuade said. But when Trump was arraigned on state charges in New York earlier this year, authorities did not take a mugshot. McQuade said she expected Trump to be fingerprinted. But neither a mugshot nor handcuffs were likely, she said, because people already know what Trump looks like and the former president already has Secret Service protection.
Who is the judge overseeing the hearing?
Magistrate judge Jonathan Goodman is scheduled to be the judge on duty at the federal courthouse in Miami when Trump appears. He will reportedly oversee the initial appearance, the Miami Herald and NBC News reported on Monday. Magistrate judges handle initial appearances and assist federal judges with other matters.
Goodman is a former newspaper reporter and civil litigator who has been a magistrate judge since 2010, according to the Miami Herald. He is well-respected and known for his dry humor, the paper reported.
While Goodman will handle Trump’s initial appearance, the overall case will be overseen by US district judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed to the federal bench in 2020. At an earlier stage in the case, Cannon issued a series of rulings in favor of Trump and was later rebuked by an appeals court. Those rulings have prompted concerns that Cannon will favor Trump as she oversees the case.
Will the appearance be televised?
No. Federal courts do not allow cameras or recordings in the courtroom.
Goodman denied a request evening from a coalition of news organizations that filed a request on Monday to allow for limited recording in the courtroom or the hallways leading to the courtroom. They also requested that the court release same-day audio of the proceedings. “Allowing photographs would undermine the massive security arrangements put in place,” Goodman wrote in an order on Monday evening. He said that he expected an expedited transcript of the proceedings to be available on Tuesday.
Cecilia Altonga, the chief district judge for the southern district of Florida, also entered an order on Monday barring reporters from bringing any electronics into the courthouse building.
Will Trump be placed in jail before or after the hearing?
No. Trump does not pose the kind of flight risk that would require detaining him.
Why is the case being heard in Miami?
Because Trump kept the classified documents at issue at his home in Mar-a-Lago, the special counsel, Jack Smith, chose to file charges in the southern district of Florida, the federal jurisdiction where Mar-a-Lago is located. That decision was deliberate and is somewhat of a risk. Smith could have tried to file the charges in Washington DC, where a federal grand jury had been investigating the matter, but it would have probably prompted a legal battle over the proper venue for the case. By filing in Florida, Smith took that issue off the table.
But filing the case in Florida also brings its own risks. Most notably, the case will be overseen by Cannon, who has issued rulings favorable to Trump in the past. A jury in Miami may also be more conservative and Trump-friendly than a jury in Washington.
Who are Trump’s lawyers?
It’s not entirely clear who will make up Trump’s legal team. Two of his attorneys abruptly resigned last week after he was indicted.
Trump will appear on Tuesday with Todd Blanche, a defense lawyer also representing him in the Manhattan case, and Boris Epshteyn, another lawyer and controversial top aide who has drawn attention from federal prosecutors himself. He may also appear with Chris Kise, a former solicitor general of Florida who has represented Trump in the documents case. Trump was still interviewing local lawyers on Monday to help represent him.
What is Trump charged with again?
Trump is charged with 31 counts of unauthorized retention of national defense information, a violation of the Espionage Act. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Trump and Waltine Nauta, his valet, face additional charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, tampering with grand jury evidence and concealing evidence in a federal investigation. Each of those charges is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Trump and Nauta also face additional charges of making a false statement. Those carry a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.
What happens next?
After the appearance, Cannon is likely to set a scheduling order laying out deadlines and a timeline for discovery, motions and a trial. Smith, the special counsel, requested that Trump get a speedy trial last week. But there are likely to be extensive disputes over discovery and classified materials that will drag the case out.
“I think an initial trial date of next spring or summer is most likely, but with more adjournments before the trial actually starts if the motions get messy, which seems likely in light of Trump’s combative nature,” McQuade said. “I’m sure [the Department of Justice] will want to try the case before election day and Trump will want to stall. Judge Cannon gets to decide.”
Hugo Lowell contributed reporting
