Prosecutors say they intend for Stormy Daniels to be a witness

CNN correspondent Kara Scannell described what it was like inside the courtroom today, including that prosecutors handed the judge a packet of former President Donald Trump’s social media posts.

Prosecutors said Trump was threatening the city, the justice system, the courts and the district attorney’s office with his "irresponsible" social media posts, specifically citing Trump’s sharing of an article that showed a photo of himself with a baseball bat. 

Trump's attorneys responded that Trump has First Amendment rights and said Trump was expressing his frustration with alleged illegal leaks from the district attorney’s office. Trump’s lawyers also claimed that Trump’s social media posts were not threatening. 

Judge Juan Merchan acknowledged Trump’s right to free speech but warned both sides not to incite violence or civil unrest with words or actions.  

Merchan said that if he was shown more social media posts, he’d have to take a closer look at it.  

Neither side made a request for a gag order, and Merchan said they were nowhere near the need for one yet. 

He advised them to "tamp down the rhetoric" and "particularly speaking to former President Trump, not to make any statements that would incite any violence or threats against any officials," according to Scannell.  

The arraignment lasted about 45 minutes, Scannell said. Inside the room, "it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop."

Trump spoke only a few times when entering his not guilty plea.

"The prosecutors said that this was part of a conspiracy that started in 2015 and involves the payment of at least $130,000 to Stormy Daniels," she said.

"As part of the allegations, prosecutors said that this was part of an effort to promote his candidacy by burying negative stories ahead of the election. And now, we don't have all the additional details of what else might be included in this, but that is how they outlined it in court," Scannell reported.

About 60 members of the press were inside the courtroom, but they were not allowed to have any electronic devices.

Each criminal charge Donald Trump is facing relates to a specific entry among the business records of the Trump Organization, according to the indictment.  

The Manhattan prosecutors accuse Trump of repeatedly causing false entries in the business records. 

The alleged false entries are related to invoices from Michael Cohen, the “Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump” and his trust, or to Donald J. Trump’s account checks. Those records are all kept by the Trump Organization, according to the indictment. 

All of the entries are identified as being made in 2017, the indictment says. 

According to court documents, the editor-in-chief and CEO of the National Enquirer approached Michael Cohen shortly after the Access Hollywood tape became public in October 2016, and told Cohen that adult film star Stormy Daniels was claiming she had an affair with Donald Trump. 

Cohen, the document says, negotiated a hush-money payment with Daniels to “secure [Daniels’] silence and prevent disclosure of the damaging information in the final weeks before the presidential election.” 

Trump, however, allegedly instructed Cohen to hold off paying Daniels for as long as possible. 

Some background: Cohen pleaded guilty to nine federal crimes including tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for helping pay off two women who threatened to go public with past alleged affairs with Trump just before the 2016 election. Trump has denied the affairs.

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify where prosecutors made allegations against Trump regarding the 2016 election. It was in court documents.

Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche, center, speaks to the media after the arraignment on Tuesday. (CNN)

Speaking outside court after the arraignment, Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche said that his client is "frustrated" and "upset."

Blanche accused the prosecutor in this case of turning a "completely political issue" into a "political prosecution." 

He referred to the indictment as "boilerplate" and claimed it "doesn't allege any federal crime and state crime that's been violated."

On the charges against Trump, Blanche said "we're going to fight it, fight it hard."

Prosecutors alleged former President Donald Trump was a part of an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign. 

The reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” the prosecutor alleges.  

Trump is not charged with criminal conspiracy.

Trump’s voice was measured. He walked in slowly scanning the reporters in the courtroom. He looked at the judge when he was speaking. 

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify where prosecutors made allegations against Trump regarding the 2016 election. It was in court documents.

The historic indictment against former President Donald Trump has been unsealed and is now public. 

Prosecutors alleged Trump was part of an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, including an illegal payment of $130,000 that was ordered by the defendant to suppress the negative information that would hurt his campaign. 

The reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy,” the indictment alleges.  

This is the first time Trump and his lawyers can fully examine the extent of the charges against him, and what prosecutors must prove at trial. 

The criminal charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush-money payments, made during the 2016 presidential campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies. 

Trump denies all wrongdoing and his lawyers have said they’ll fight to get the charges dropped.  

Read the full indictment here:

(Source: WCBS)

Former President Donald Trump has left a Manhattan courtroom after his arraignment Tuesday.

He made no statement while leaving the courtroom. After leaving the courtroom, Trump left the building and got into his motorcade parked outside.

The former president pleaded not guilty to 34 counts, a source tells CNN.