💬 Quoted… “Not guilty.”

Former President Donald Trump was officially arrested and arraigned in a Manhattan criminal court yesterday, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records relating to hush-money payments made just prior to the 2016 election.

In addition to the alleged $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, prosecutors accused Trump of orchestrating two other hush-money payments totaling $180,000. One allegedly involved a separate woman who also accused the former president of having an extramarital affair, and the other allegedly involved a doorman who claimed to have a story about a child Trump fathered out of wedlock.

• The 34 Class E felony counts (the lowest level of felony) refer to accusations that 34 separate business records were falsified to cover up the three alleged hush-money payments. In principle, Trump could face a maximum sentence of four years in jail for each count (136 years in total) – though first-time offenders typically avoid any jail time.
• NY prosecutors said they plan to request a trial starting in January 2024, but Trump’s lawyers have indicated they plan to push for later in the spring.

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😊🦠 Stat of the Day: Peer-reviewed research found happiness spreads “like an emotional contagion” – especially among those who live close together. When one person becomes happier, their next-door neighbors’ chances of also growing happier rise by 34%; friends living within a mile of each other are 25% more likely to feel happy, and their friends have a 10% chance of feeling happier, too.

🤯 Did You Know?... Barbie was created by an engineer that used to work for the Pentagon, who based his design on an R-rated doll from Germany.

📖 Worth a Read: How to forgive yourself and move past a hurtful mistake → (Psyche Magazine)