Former President Donald Trump will be spared the indignity of having his hands placed in handcuffs and posing for a mug shot when he arrives for his arraignment in federal court on Tuesday.
The US Marshals service will use a pre-existing photo of the 45th president in lieu of a photo taken when he is processed prior to his arraignment in a Miami federal court, according to a source familiar with the last-minute talks between the former president’s legal team and federal authorities.
Mr Trump is due to arrive in court on 13 June to formally face charges in a 37-count indictment accusing the former president of illegally retaining national defense documents and other classified materials at his Florida home.
He is scheduled to make his first appearance at 3pm ET in front of magistrate judge Jonathan Goodman. US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the federal judiciary by the former president in 2020, is overseeing the case.
The case – stemming from the US Department of Justice special counsel investigation into cMr Trump’s possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and whether he intentionally obstructed the government’s efforts to return them – is separate from the Justice Department’s probe into Mr Trump’s role in the events surrounding January 6 and a Georgia prosecutor’s investigation into his attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 election in that state.
Mr Trump will be formally presented with the charges against him and be informed of his rights. He is expected to enter a “not guilty” plea.
Following his arraignment, he is scheduled to return to his Bedminster, New Jersey club to deliver remarks before a fundraising event. He similarly returned to his Mar-a-Lago property hours after his arraignment in Manhattan criminal court in April. In his remarks, he lambasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the judge overseeing the case, as well as the judge’s family members.