A Manhattan grand jury has reportedly indicted Donald Trump on more than thirty counts of commercial fraud, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. This would be the first time in American history that a sitting or past president was criminally charged.
On Tuesday 28 March, Trump will make his court appearance. A sealed indictment has been filed and will be unsealed in the near future. At this moment, the details of the charges have not been made public.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been looking into the former president’s possible involvement in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels since before the 2016 election. Although grand jury deliberations are confidential,it was informed by a source with knowledge of the matter that a witness testified for 30 minutes before the panel voted to indict Trump.
The decision will undoubtedly send shockwaves throughout the country and propel the American political system into unknown waters, as no former American leader has ever been charged with a crime while simultaneously seeking reelection to the presidency.
After the indictment was announced, Trump published a statement calling it “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”
“I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” the former president said. “The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Although the former president had been preparing for an indictment since last week, he began to accept press stories that a potential indictment was weeks – or more – away, according to a person who spoke with Trump personally.
“Is this a big deal right now? Under the condition of anonymity as Trump’s staff deliberated, the source said, “Hell yes.”
Bragg’s office has stated that communication with Trump’s attorneys has begun. While the former president has pledged to continue running despite the criminal charges, the legal action against Trump has jolted the 2024 presidential race into a new phase.
Take a look at the below tweet by Inside with Jen Paki:
.@jrpsaki tells @chrislhayes that the White House will “be very quiet for as long as they can” on the indictment of former President Trump.
“They don’t want to feed into the politics of this.” pic.twitter.com/Btgv7CNj3p
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) March 31, 2023
Republicans unite in Support of Trump
Republicans in Congress soon came to Trump’s aid, accused Bragg of conducting a political witch hunt and attacked him on Twitter.
One of the Republican committee chairs who has asked Bragg to speak before Congress on the Trump probe is House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who called the demand “outrageous” in a tweet.
The indictment was described as “totally unprecedented” by Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, who also termed it “a disastrous escalation in the weaponization of the legal system.”
One moderate Republican, though, expressed confidence in the judicial system.
“I’m a firm supporter of the rule of law. “I believe we have checks and balances and I trust the system,” Don Bacon, a Nebraska representative, said.
Read on for more of what we have to say about Trump:
- Trump Vows Death and Destruction Against His Captors
- Trump is Back in Iowa Hoping to Learn From His Mistakes He Made in 2016
- Chinese Spy Balloons Beneath Trump Detected After Biden Entered Office
A Probe Initiated by Cy Vance
By inviting the ex-president to appear before the grand jury investigating the hush money plot as recently as early March, Bragg’s office gave the impression that they were near to pursuing charges against Trump. In New York, the law mandates that anybody who could be named as a defendant be given notice and an opportunity to come before a grand jury. Trump, however, ultimately decided not to testify.
The first probe began during Trump’s presidency when Cy Vance was Bragg’s predecessor. It concerns a $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels by Michael Cohen, then Trump’s attorney, in late October 2016, just days before the 2016 presidential election, to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged affair she had with Trump ten years earlier.
President Trump has consistently denied any extramarital involvement. The investigation centers on the question of whether or not the Trump Organization improperly reimbursed Cohen for the hush money paid to Daniels.
According to documents filed in Cohen’s federal prosecution, executives at the Trump Organization gave him a bonus and paid off his tax debt in addition to the initial $130,000 payment. The payments were recorded as a legal expense by the Trump Organization. Donald Trump says he had nothing to do with the payment.
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