Law and Order: A scowling former President Donald Trump yesterday pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan courtroom to 34 counts of filing false business records to cover up another crime, lying to tax authorities, a low level felony that carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison for each count.

  Trump made history becoming the first former president to be indicted. 

  The charges involve hush money payments to quash sex scandals on the eve of the 2016 election, not only to porn star Stormy Daniels, but also to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and a Manhattan doorman who claimed fictitiously to have knowledge of Trump fathering a child out of wedlock. 

  Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels with $130,000 of his own money. The indictment alleges that Trump reimbursed Cohen over twelve months and recorded the payments as legal fees, hence, falsifying business records.

  The “Statement of Facts” accompanying the indictment says that Trump and “Lawyer A,” which is Cohen, worked out the details of the repayment scheme for Cohen in the Oval Office of The White House. The total amount in monthly payments was bumped up to $420 for the Daniels and McDougal payments, as well as other expenses, so Cohen could pay income tax on the money and come out even.

  The narrative also involves the cooperation of David Pecker, chief of The National Enquirer gossip sheet.

  After the arraignment yesterday Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopino, complained to reporters that, “Today’s unsealing of this indictment shows that the rule of law died in this country. While everyone is not above the law, no one’s below it either. And if this man’s name was not Donald J. Trump, there’s no scenario we’d all be here.”

  That’s probably true, but white collar prosecutions like this are often selective. Prosecutors can’t charge everyone, so they go for the big fish. In this case, Trump is accused of committing crimes to become president. The “Statement of Facts” says that “defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects.”

  Crowds gathered outside the court in the hours leading to Trump’s appearance. Police officers labored to keep the pro and anti-Trump demonstrators separated.

  Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green attempted to deliver a speech to the crowd, but was drowned out by hoots and whistles. She was hustled away by the police.

  Disgraced New York Rep. George Santos appeared saying, “I’m not here for the cameras. I’m just here for the president of the United States, who is being unfairly attacked by a DA.” Nobody stands up for truth more than George Santos.

Ramble On: Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago and last night delivered a rambling speech in which he claimed to be the victim of targeted prosecution and ran on about everything from his claim of vote fraud in the 2020 election to Hunter Biden’s laptop.

  Taking on the mantle of martyrdom, Trump told an adoring crowd, “The only crime I have committed is to defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.” He referred to “impeachment hoax number one, impeachment hoax number two.”

  Trump claimed there were “millions of votes illegally stuffed into ballot boxes, and all caught on government cameras.”

  He said, “Our country is going to hell.”

  Despite an admonishment from Judge Juan Merchan in New York, Trump verbally attacked the District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the judge, and their families, as well as Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom he called a lunatic. 

  In a speech attended by Arizona’s election-denier Kari Lake, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Mike Lindell the My Pillow guy, Trump aired grievances for 30 minutes. Notably absent were his wife, Melania, and daughter Ivanka.

  In his victimhood, Trump may have hurt himself in the investigation into his holding secret documents. He said he removed the documents from Washington “openly and in plain sight.”

Gunplay: Tennessee House Republicans are acting to expel three Democratic state representatives for participating in protests inside the state Capitol calling for gun control after the mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School. Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville, and Justin Pearson of Memphis have already been removed from committee assignments.

  Jones said in a tweet last Thursday that, “We occupied the House floor today after repeatedly being silenced from talking about the crisis of mass shootings.”

  While ignoring demonstrations by thousands of people calling for gun control, the Republicans are moving with lightning speed to discipline three House members who broke rules about speaking out of turn.

The War Room: A new $2.6 billion package of military aid for Ukraine includes $500 million for immediate supplies of ammunition and equipment from existing US stockpiles. The bulk of the aide is marked for future purchases of  munitions, radar, and other weapons.

  In Russia, authorities have charged a 26-year-old woman who opposes the Ukraine war with terrorism in the bombing murder of a prominent pro-war military blogger in St. Petersburg. Charges against Daria Trepova, a former medical student, include illegal possession of explosives. She could be sentenced to life in prison.

  Russian investigators claim Trepova acted “under the instructions of people from the territory of Ukraine.” 

The Spin Rack:  Brandon Johnson, a county commissioner and union organizer who called for expansion of social programs and new taxes, was elected mayor of Chicago, defeating more conservative fellow Democrat  Paul Vallas. — As many as 1,150 buffalo have been killed in a sanctioned hunt to prevent the animals that roam in Yellowstone National Park from leaving in search of food and spreading the disease brucellosis to livestock outside the park

Below the Fold: Fox Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is reported to have called off his engagement to conservative radio host Ann Lesley Smith, a former dental hygienist, because she’s a little too evangelical for his taste. He’s 92 and on the market again.

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