Trump adds to legal team ahead of historic arraignment: 'America was not supposed to be this way!'

Former President Donald Trump arrived Monday in New York City to face arraignment in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's criminal case against him, decrying anew his prosecution as a political payback designed to interfere with his 2024 presidential campaign.

"America was not supposed to be this way!” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform ahead of his arraignment and booking as the first American president ever indicted on criminal charges. 

Live-streamed footage from the Associated Press captured the arrival of Trump's plane at La Guardia Airport shortly before 4:00 p.m. He departed from his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, earlier Monday.

The former president announced a major addition Monday to his legal team, hiring former federal prosecutor Todd Blanche, who had represented his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort during the Robert Mueller special counsel investigation.

His team also filed a motion Monday asking the court to ban video and photo coverage of the arraignment as the former president raised questions about whether he could receive a fair trial in Manhattan where 87% of voters cast ballots against him in 2020. His lawyers have been discussing seeking a change of venue to Staten Island.

"The Corrupt D.A. has no case," Trump wrote. "What he does have is a venue where it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to get a Fair Trial (it must be changed!)"

Trump will likely spend his evening at Trump Tower before surrendering himself on Tuesday for the arraignment. Exact charges remain unknown though the case involves a 2016 payment that Trump's then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Trump later paid Cohen and recorded it as a legal expense. Legal theorists have suggested the case may involve an alleged falsification of business records to hide a campaign finance violation.

He is expected to plead not guilty at the Tuesday arraignment and will likely be fingerprinted.

The former president has labeled the case as a political witch hunt and much of the Republican leadership has lined up behind him in making similar claims.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.