They maintained the prosecution was unjustified and argued that he was only prosecuted because his name was Donald Trump.
The indictment alleges the reason he committed the crime of falsifying business records was in part to “promote his candidacy”. At the arraignment hearing, the prosecution also raised concerns with the judge about comments made by Mr Trump on social media. Judge Merchan also warned Mr Trump that he could be removed from the courtroom if he was disruptive, but Mr Trump spoke only a few times to respond to questions.
Mr Trump’s allies have argued that the prosecution has been brought to hinder his bid for re-election to the White House.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more: