An indictment was brought against Donald Trump in connection with the payment of hush money on Thursday local time in New York, the former president’s lawyer confirmed.
Following the investigation by the New York District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, the grand jury voted for an indictment unprecedented in the history of American politics. The prosecutor must make the details of the indictment public by Friday. The official indictment of Donald Trump and the presentation of the charges will probably take place early next week.
Donald Trump is accused of paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 during the 2016 presidential campaign through his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, to keep quiet about an alleged intimate relationship between the two of them 10 years earlier. Donald Trump denies the fact of the relationship with the woman.
Donald Trump responded to the indictment in a statement, which he called political persecution and election interference of the highest degree. He wrote that impeachment against the former US president would backfire and accused Democrats of abusing the legal system to punish their political opponents. He believed that the “radical left-wing democrats” started a witch hunt against him even before he took office.
“Democrats lied, cheated, stole in the name of their obsession to catch Trump, but now they did something incredible – they brought charges against a completely innocent person,” said the former president.
The chairman of the legal committee of the lower house of Congress, Jim Jordan, reacted to the news of the indictment as “outrageous”.
In 2019, the New York prosecutor’s office decided not to press charges in the case, and in 2021, the Federal Election Commission also took a stand against the prosecution. In January 2022, the Democratic New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg suspended the investigation against the former president when he took office and then restarted it.
During the investigation, they heard Michael Cohen, the ex-president’s former lawyer, who pleaded guilty in an earlier criminal case against him for providing money to the actress.
Almost two weeks ago, Donald Trump wrote on his social media page that he was facing indictment and arrest in the case. He described the case as a politically motivated proceeding and called for protests against it.
Attorney General Alvin Bragg accused Donald Trump of creating false expectations with his announcement.
The indictment is unprecedented in the political history of the United States, as no similar action has ever been taken in a criminal case against a former or sitting president.
MTI
