Donald Trump's arraigned for first time on charges

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Donald Trump's arraigned for first time on charges

NEW YORK - When Donald Trump is arraigned next week before a judge in New York, it will not only be the first time a former US president has faced criminal charges. It will be a reckoning for a man known as Teflon Don, who has managed to escape serious legal jeopardy despite 40 years of legal scrutiny.

Trump, who is expected to win the Republican presidential nomination, faces charges including one felony charge related to hush money payments to women during his 2016 campaign. Like any other person facing trial, he will be booked, fingerprinted and photographed before being given the chance to enter a plea.

The spectacle that is going to unfold will demonstrate how dramatically Trump - who already holds the distinction of being the first president to be impeached twice -- has upended democratic norms, as a result of the spectacle that will be sure to unfold. The indictment shows a cloak of invincibility that seemed to follow Trump through his decades in business and politics as he faced allegations of fraud, collusion and sexual misconduct.

After all this time, it's a bit of a shock, according to Trump biographer Michael D Antonio. You know I used to think of him as the Gingerbread Man, shouting, You can't catch me! As he ran away, he ran away. He said he had trouble imagining he would ever be held accountable because of his track record. These are not things that Donald Trump never thought of in his entire life, nor did I, for that matter, think he would ever be confronted with, Michael Cohen, Trump's longtime fixer and key witness to the case who served jail time for payments.

Some of the celebrations of Trump's detractors may be premature. The former president may want a judge to dismiss the case. There is no guarantee of conviction if it moves forward. Intensifying investigations in Atlanta and Washington are seen as serious legal threats.