Former US president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges following his indictment.

The charges allege that Trump had falsified business record to influence the 2016 election through hush money payments.

Trump arrived at the Manhattan criminal court on Tuesday and was given special accommodations as he didn’t take a mug shot and wasn’t handcuffed in court.

Prosecutors declared that he may face a maximum of four years in prison if convicted.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that Trump had “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election”.

According to the prosecutors, the falsified records were were signed off by Trump when he was president in 2017.

Bragg said the false documents were “made to cover up other crimes”, including violations of federal campaign finance limits and election laws.

“The trail of money and lies exposes a pattern that, the People allege, violates one of New York’s basic and fundamental business laws…We today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law,” he said.

“No amount of money, no amount of power changes that enduring American principle.”

The case named three individuals who had received hush money payments, including adult film actress Stormy Daniels, Playboy model Karen McDougal and a former Trump employee who allegedly knew about a child the former president had out of wedlock.

Trump’s associates paid Daniels $130,000 (USD), McDougal $150,000 (USD) and the former employee $30,000 (USD).

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, was found to be one of the associates making these payments on behalf of Trump back in 2018.

Cohen had pleaded guilty to federal crimes involving hush money payments and was subsequently sentenced to three years in prison.

The former president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or alleged sexual encounters and stated that he was the victim of a political “witch hunt“.

Trump has made history by being the first former US president to be charged with a crime.

Photo: Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona by Gage Skidmore available HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified.