On Thursday, a New York grand jury investigating the circumstances surrounding a “hush money” payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election voted to indict Donald Trump. This marks the time in American history that a former president faces criminal charges.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed the indictment in an online statement on Thursday evening, saying it had contacted Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender. The exact charge or charges have yet to be made public, and the indictment is still sealed. More information will be given “when the arraignment date is selected,” according to Bragg’s office.
While the specific charges against Trump are unknown at this time, the twice-impeached former president was indicted on more than 30 counts by the Manhattan DA in connection with his alleged involvement in a scheme to conceal an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels leading up to the 2016 election.
Prosecutors were reportedly investigating possible falsification of business records. Trump has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in this matter and denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels.
In a statement issued in response to the news of his indictment, the former president referred to it as “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history,” accusing Democrats of “weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just happens to be the President of the United States.”
According to CBS News, two Trump attorneys, Tacopina and Susan Necheles, issued a statement and said that the former president “did not commit any crime” and vowed to “vigorously fight this political prosecution in Court.”
The case is related to a payment that was made in 2016, just a few days before Trump was elected president. Michael Cohen, his former attorney, set up a wire transfer of $130,000 to Daniels in return for her silence regarding an alleged affair.
After news of the indictment was announced on Thursday evening, Yusef Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five – the wrongfully convicted young Black men Trump called to get the death penalty in full newspaper ads in 1989 – reacted to his indictment in a one-word statement: “Karma.”
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton also recalled Trump demanding the death penalty for the Exonerated Five, saying, “What goes around comes around.”
“Let’s not forget that it was Donald Trump who took out full-page ads calling for these five Black and Brown young men to get the death penalty,” said Sharpton. “This is the same man who’s now calling for violence when he has to go through the same system. The same man will have to stand up in a courtroom and see firsthand what the criminal justice system is like.”