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Hours after a New York grand jury voted to indict former President Donald Trump, he was indicted, as confirmed by The New York Times. The news that the New York District Attorney confirmed the indictment came following a grand jury investigation into the alleged payment he made to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair on Thursday, March 30.
Per CNN, several sources “familiar” with the matter confirmed that a grand jury in Manhattan voted to indict the 76-year-old former President. More details were not immediately available Thursday afternoon, though the Los Angeles Times also confirmed the news. It marks the first time in U.S. history that a president — either sitting or former — will face criminal charges.
Following the reports, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to react, and his statement was swiftly captured and retweeted. “These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED [sic] the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President,” he wrote. “THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. IT IS LIKEWISE A CONTINUING ATTACK ON OUR ONCE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS. THE USA IS NOW A THIRD WORLD NATION, A NATION IN SERIOUS DECLINE. SO SAD!
The vote came nearly two weeks after Trump claimed that he expected to be arrested on his Truth Social platform with an all-caps message on March 18. “The far and away leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” he wrote, claiming that there had been an “illegal leak.”
Despite Trump’s claims that he would be arrested, the day came and went without an arrest or indictment announcement. The grand jury was instructed to stay home on Wednesday, per Reuters.
Trump had also called on his supporters to “protest” and “take our nation back” in a series of messages on his platform. “We just can’t allow this anymore. They’re killing our nation as we sit back and watch,” he wrote in all-caps. “We must save America. Protest, Protest, Protest!”
Hours after his posts, Trump’s spokesperson said that his legal team didn’t receive a notification of an indictment in a statement to The Washington Post. Trump has also denied that he had an affair with Daniels and maintained his innocence. Trump also called out Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for the investigation into Trump.
Trump was arrested as part of an indictment for a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels in an attempt to prevent her from going public with her story about her alleged affair with then-presidential candidate during the 2016 election. Trump’s former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen paid her after Trump had said that he would reimburse him. Cohen has come forward and said that he paid off Daniels in his memoir Disloyal. The payment would be considered an improper campaign donation.
Cohen has testified as part of the grand jury investigation, and he had been arrested and sentenced to three years in prison in December 2018. He served three years after he was found guilty of tax evasion and lying about making the hush money payment. Daniels also sued him for defamation.
The arrest also comes months after the former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in jail, after receiving a plea deal for tax fraud.
Besides the New York arrest, Trump is also facing another grand jury investigation in Georgia for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis had announced that an indictment was “imminent” in January, per CNN.
Trump also received four criminal referrals from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The commit recommended charges for obstructing an official proceeding, attempting to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to make false statements, and insurrection to the Justice Department.
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