2 years ago / 4:17 PM EDT

Supporters sing 'Happy Birthday' to Trump during unannounced stop at famous Cuban restaurant

Trump made an unannounced stop at the famous Cuban restaurant Versailles in downtown Miami about 10 to 15 minutes after leaving the courthouse. Supporters sang "Happy Birthday" to the former president, whose 77th birthday is tomorrow.

“Food for everyone,” Trump said inside the restaurant, where he took photos with supporters

The Versailles Restaurant is a landmark in the Miami Cuban community and a base for Cuban exiles in earlier generations. It has been a must-visit stop for GOP candidates for many years. Both Presidents visited as well as the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., when he ran for president. Bill Clinton went as well.

2 years ago / 4:17 PM EDT

House votes for the first time in a week, just as Trump is arraigned

After a weeklong standoff on the floor, the House voted Tuesday to pass a rule along party lines that will allow multiple GOP messaging bills to come to the floor — just as Trump went in for his arraignment.

The first bill, which heads to the floor Tuesday evening, is GOP Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde’s legislation that aims to stop regulations on pistol stabilizing braces. The House will also take up a pair of bills Tuesday and Wednesday that protect gas stoves against potential bans.

The last time the House voted was exactly one week ago, June 6, when 11 conservative rebels, furious over Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt deal with President Biden, joined all Democrats to vote down the procedural rule — the first time a rule vote failed in more than two decades. That effectively blocked all GOP bills, freezing the House floor.

But on Monday, McCarthy and the conservatives negotiated a temporary deal to end the blockade, allowing the Clyde bill to come to the floor first followed by the other bills. The conservatives, however, warned that they could launch another blockade if McCarthy doesn’t seriously entertain deeper spending cuts in the upcoming appropriations process.

2 years ago / 4:07 PM EDT

Greene attributes Trump arraignment to 'weaponized government'

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., attributed Trump’s arraignment to a “government weaponized against each of you.”

“It is so heavy on my heart that we’re doing this today when President Trump is being arraigned,” Greene said at a GOP congressional hearing in Washington, adding that the investigations into Trump "started on January 6 when we were doing our constitutional duty to object” to the 2020 election results, referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s widely debunked claims of a stolen election. 

The ongoing meeting, billed as a "field hearing on January 6th," is being led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a member of the House Freedom Caucus. Other members of the conservative caucus, including Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., are also present.

2 years ago / 4:00 PM EDT

Trump and Nauta released on their own recognizance; judge orders no contact list

As their arraignment concluded, Trump and Nauta were released on their own recognizance. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, who oversaw the arraignment, did not issue any restrictions on travel for Trump and Nauta.

Rather, Goodman issued another condition: a limited contact order.

Goodman directed government prosecutors to put together a list of people whom Trump would not be able to contact to discuss the specifics of the case. The list is to include Nauta, the judge said.

The limited contact order was not requested by government lawyers. Rather, Goodman ordered it.

Enforcing such an order, however, could be challenging. Nauta remains Trump's body man and aide, and policing their interactions could prove difficult.

Trump’s next court appearance was not decided on during the hearing.

2 years ago / 3:58 PM EDT

Security tackles man wearing prison stripes who stood in front of motorcade

Two men providing security for Trump tackled a man in the street who was holding a sign, wearing a white and black prison-stripped outfit, and standing in front of Trump's motorcade as it departed the courthouse.

Security tackled the man to the ground on the sidewalk nearby.

2 years ago / 3:55 PM EDT

Trump departs from the courthouse

Former President Donald Trump waves after leaving court today.Chandan Khanna / AFP - Getty Images

Trump has departed from the Miami courthouse after the conclusion of his arraignment, where he pleaded "not guilty."

He will travel to Bedminster, New Jersey, later today where he'll deliver remarks to supporters tonight.

2 years ago / 3:33 PM EDT

Vance vows to block Justice Department nominees in Senate over Trump case

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, announced he will put a procedural hold on Justice Department nominees in response to Trump's prosecution over his alleged mishandling of national defense information.

Vance’s office said nominees for positions with the U.S. Marshals Service will be exempted from the senator's hold over what his office called “the unprecedented political prosecution of Donald J. Trump by Biden’s Department of Justice."

Read the full story here.

2 years ago / 3:27 PM EDT

Trump wore red tie, sat stone-faced as lawyer entered plea

At his arraignment, Trump wore a red tie and sat stone-faced through the proceeding.

Entering the former president’s plea, Trump lawyer Blanche said, “We most certainly enter a plea of not guilty.”

2 years ago / 3:18 PM EDT

Trump's sons react in defense of their father on Twitter

Trump's sons briefly reacted on social media as their father prepared to plead not guilty in federal court in Miami.

Eric Trump retweeted a post from Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that suggested there are different standards of justice for the Trump and the Biden families.

Donald Trump Jr. shared a video post from Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, praising him for threatening to hold up Justice Department nominees over the special counsel's prosecution of Trump.

2 years ago / 3:17 PM EDT

Rubio: This makes a Biden indictment more likely under a GOP president

Diana Paulsen

In an appearance on Fox News today, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., denounced Trump's indictment as political and warned of retribution by Republicans.

"The next Republican president is going to be under tremendous pressure to bring charges and indict Joe Biden, his family" and his son Hunter, whom Rubio referred to as a "crackhead."

When asked about GOP presidential candidates pledging to pardon Trump or strongly consider it, Rubio said that he hadn't given much thought to it but thought that "proactive pardoning is going to be very popular" among Republican voters.