Trump did not have a mug shot taken during his arrest
Former President Donald Trump did not have his mug shot taken when he surrendered to authorities at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday, according to his lawyer Joe Tacopina, but his 2024 presidential campaign is fundraising off a facsimile of a mug shot.
His campaign sent out an email with a T-shirt donning a black-and-white photo of Trump from the shoulders up with the date of his arrest. "NOT GUILTY," it said under the photo.
Even if Trump was to have had his mug shot taken, New York bans law enforcement from releasing most mug shots publicly.
CBS News consultant Richard Esposito, former deputy commissioner of the New York City Police Department, said it is unusual for someone not to have their mug shot taken.
"In fact, you might be hard pressed to find a past case like this in Manhattan," he said.
There are a number of theories why it wasn't done, he said, including that if one had been taken, a leaked photo could provide fodder for both the Trump campaign and for his opponents.
Trump's lawyer Alina Habba, who is representing the former president in other legal matters, told CNN on Monday that Trump shouldn't need to take a mug shot because "he's the most recognized face in the world, let alone the country, right now."
"Mug shots are for people so that you recognize who they are," she said.
Trump, who denies wrongdoing, was indicted by a grand jury on 34 counts of falsifying records in the first degree. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office was investigating Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in connection to a $130,000 "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Graham Kates contributed to this report.
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Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. Reach her at caitlin.yilek@cbsinteractive.com. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hausofcait
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