According to NBC News’ Garrett Haake, the next in-person hearing where we can expect Trump to appear in court won’t be until at least December.

“The next hearing is likely scheduled for Dec. 4,” Haake told MSNBC, with Trump expected to make an appearance. That delay gives lawyers on both sides the chance to file any related motions and prepare their arguments. This calendar would then put the start of the trial in this case around next January.

But a January start date for a trial would put it right at the middle of the first rounds of the GOP primary calendar. And it means that we’re going to be hearing about this case throughout the Republican debates in the back half of the year.

According to a news release from Bragg’s office, the charges against Trump accuse him of reimbursing his former lawyer Michael Cohen “through a series of monthly checks, first from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust — created in New York to hold the Trump Organization’s assets during TRUMP’s presidency — and later from TRUMP’s bank account.” Eleven checks were “issued for a phony purpose,” according to the release, nine of which were signed by Trump himself. 

The dates that are listed in the newly unsealed indictment for the allegedly falsified records for those bogus checks range from Feb. 17, 2017 to Dec. 7, 2017. That means that for the first year that Trump was in the White House, Trump allegedly was actively aware of and participating in this scheme being run through his business.

Going back to Jessica Levinson’s entry from earlier today, that is something that sounds extremely impeachable, given that he was serving in office while breaking the law. And if proved guilty, it should definitely be a factor in Trump’s re-election campaign, as conclusive proof that Trump was willing to violate the law while in office.

This is what Donald Trump looks like as a criminal defendant:

Even those who have covered Trump for years seem a little surprised at the expression on the former president’s face. “Trump is not enjoying this at all,” wrote Trump chronicler Maggie Haberman. “It’s plain on his face.” But a cowed Trump, while rare in the grand scheme of things, is surprisingly common in legal proceedings.

In December 2015, for example, Trump sat for a deposition in a lawsuit alleging that he and his Trump University defrauded students of thousands of dollars. A month before, Trump had claimed at a rally that he had “the world’s greatest memory.” But when plaintiffs’ lawyers asked if he stood by that self-assessment, Trump only mumbled “I have a good memory” in roughly the same tone as a child caught stealing cookies.

But it makes sense that Trump would feel ill at ease in a room where he is not in charge. From a young age, Trump has been used to getting his way and dominating a room. That only became more true as he entered politics and became president. On Tuesday, for the first time in a very long time, he was in a room where he was not the master of the universe. To which one can only say: Good.

The Manhattan DA's office unsealed the Trump indictment. Read it in full here.

Trump just left the courtroom after his 57-minute arraignment. As MSNBC's Ari Melber just noted on air, it was a “very, very lengthy booking hearing.”

As we already know, Trump during his arraignment pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to hush money payments made to two women.

In laying out the charges against Trump, Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy told the presiding judge that his office is “seeking a protective order” regarding discovery materials, according to NBC News producer Adam Reiss. That move comes in response to Trump’s “recent threatening emails and speeches both directed at New York City, the courts here in New York, the justice system, and the district attorney’s office,” Reiss relayed via phone to MSNBC’s anchors.

The worry that the DA’s office laid out was that Trump or his attorneys might use items from discovery to potentially threaten witnesses and members of the jury pool. In response, the judge told Trump’s lawyers that he’s “very concerned” about the rhetoric from their client, even as they tried to defend his statements as a free speech issue. We’ll know more soon enough about whether any sort of protective order is actually granted, but the fact that it’s even a possibility speaks to how Trump’s posting addiction could affect the course of this trial.

There are so many things in this world where reporters can — and should — ask the White House for comment. Trump being charged with a crime is not one of them.

“I think the American people should feel reassured that when there is an ongoing case like this one that we’re just not commenting,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters today. I just don’t know what the point is asking about this case, especially since Jean-Pierre has repeatedly declined to comment about it. There is no world where she answers any question about today’s arraignment with something like “Oh, yeah, the president thinks he’s totally guilty, lock him up.”

The White House not weighing in on criminal investigations was a pretty solid norm until Trump decided to curb stomp it, so it really is reassuring that this administration is rededicated to reinforcing it.