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Former President Donald Trump Indicted by Manhattan Grand Jury
A Manhattan grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, making him the first current or former president to face criminal charges. The details of the indictment remain unclear as it is under seal.
Trump is expected to surrender in New York early next week, according to sources familiar with the matter. He called the indictment “political persecution” and “an attack on our country” in a statement to ABC News.
The Investigation
The Manhattan DA’s office has been investigating a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen. This payment occurred during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Federal prosecutors believed that the payment amounted to an illicit campaign donation. Cohen went to prison in part over the payment. When Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payment, his company logged the payments as a “monthly retainer” for Cohen’s legal services, according to Trump and court documents from Cohen’s subsequent plea deal.
Prosecutors were considering whether Trump should be charged with falsifying business records, according to sources.
Response to Indictment
“This is all about accountability,” Cohen told reporters when he arrived to testify before a Manhattan grand jury earlier this month. Of Trump, he said, “He needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds.”
Trump, on the other hand, has long insisted he did “absolutely nothing wrong” and has called the investigation part of a witch hunt by a Democratic prosecutor. An attorney for Trump has said the payment was not meant to protect the campaign, but to protect Trump’s family.
“He made this with personal funds to prevent something coming out, false, but embarrassing to himself, his family, his young son,” defense attorney Joe Tacopina told George Stephanopoulos two weeks ago on ABC’s Good Morning America.
Previous Conviction and Plea Deal
Last year, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg won a tax fraud conviction against Trump’s namesake company, and its former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Until now, Trump himself had never faced an indictment.
The investigation continues, and more details are expected to emerge as the case unfolds.
