A Manhattan grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump, multiple sources close to Trump confirmed to NPR.
The charges, which are expected to be revealed in the coming days, make Trump the first former president in US history to face criminal charges. The grand jury indictment is expected to be stamped in the coming days.
A Manhattan spokeswoman said, “We are contacting Mr. Trump’s attorney tonight to arrange his extradition to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for the charges in the Supreme Court indictment, which is sealed.” Guidance will be provided once the date is selected.”, the district attorney’s office said in a statement Thursday night. (The Manhattan Grand Jury Has Indicted Former President Donald Trump)
A grand jury is investigating secret money payments made by Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her not going public with allegations of an affair with Trump.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, although he has acknowledged that she reimbursed him for money paid to Cohen.
Reacting Sharply To The Allegation, The Former President Termed It As Political Harassment.
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“This is political harassment and election interference at the highest level ever,” he wrote in the statement. “From the moment I stepped down the golden escalator of Trump Tower, and before I was sworn in as President of the United States, the radical left-wing Democrats, the enemies of the working men and women of this country, have participated in the Make A witch hunt to destroy the America Great Again movement.”
With the allegations rising earlier this month, Trump urged his supporters to hold larger protests.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to several federal charges, including illegal campaign contributions as part of buying silence from women about their alleged relationships with Trump.
In his plea, Cohen described the scheme: In the final month of the 2016 presidential campaign, he paid $130,000 to silence Daniels, who claimed she was having an affair with Donald Trump.
Cohen obtained the money from a home equity line of credit. He arranged for Trump to be reimbursed during the following year.
Monthly checks totaling $420,000 were identified as “advance” payments to Cohen. Some came from Trump’s trust, but others were signed by Trump himself, in what Cohen said was his personal account. Falsifying business records can be a serious crime under New York law if it is done in furtherance of another crime, such as a campaign finance violation. Cohen said he also discussed the check with Trump inside the White House. (The Manhattan Grand Jury Has Indicted Former President Donald Trump)
The investigation began in 2018 under the direction of then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and quickly grew into a broader investigation into Trump’s business practices. In 2019, Vance subpoenaed Trump for eight years of tax returns. Trump made the request twice to the Supreme Court, but both times the high court sided with the prosecutor, clearing the way for him to obtain the records in early 2021.
By the end of that year, Vance’s team was preparing an impeachment case against Trump based on possible misrepresentations to banks and tax authorities over several years regarding property valuations. But it was not so. In 2022, a new district attorney, Alvin Bragg Jr., is sworn in, soon deciding not to prosecute a far-reaching fraud scheme.
The two lead prosecutors in the case resigned. One wrote in his resignation letter: “A decision made in good faith, however wrong it may be. I believe your decision not to prosecute Donald Trump now and on his current record is wrong and completely against the public interest.” It’s the opposite.” ,
Bragg Insists He Didn’t Drop Trump Probe
Bragg proceeded with indictments in a more limited tax fraud conspiracy. He obtained convictions against former Trump CFO Alan Weiselberg and two Trump corporate entities for evading taxes by compensating Weiselberg and others with unrestricted benefits such as an apartment and luxury cars. Checks signed by Trump were presented at the trial, but the former president was never charged. This year, Bragg began testifying before a grand jury, including Michael Cohen. Earlier this month, Trump himself was invited to testify in what was seen as the final step before impeachment. The former president called it “a CAC political witchcraft trying to take down the ever-leading candidate in the Republican Party.” (The Manhattan Grand Jury Has Indicted Former President Donald Trump)
Trump and his lawyers have consistently called the investigation “politically motivated” and a “witch hunt”. Bragg, who is black, has been called a “racist”.
What Are The Legal Issues Involved In The Case?
Many legal experts say they believe the criminal case Bragg brings may be difficult to prove in court. While Cohen was convicted under federal law, New York state statutes for the alleged crimes can be onerous.
Trump’s actions in New York That’s contrary to U.S. law, according to Mark Pomerantz, a veteran prosecutor who helped lead the district attorney’s office investigation that began under Vance and later resigned.
“The money was not for legal services,” Pomerantz told NPR’s Fresh Air last month. “That’s how the payments were documented. Documentation of the refund, therefore, amounts to falsifying business records, which is a crime under New York law.”
Pomerantz held that such a crime is elevated to the level of a felony if the action is done in order to commit or conceal another crime. (The Manhattan Grand Jury Has Indicted Former President Donald Trump)
In Cohen’s testimony before Congress in 2019, he said that he and Trump discussed the payment at the White House when Cohen visited the Oval Office a month after Trump’s presidency. “He’s showing me around and pointing to different pictures,” Cohen said. “And she said, ‘Don’t worry, Michael. Your January and February refund checks are arriving. They were FedExed from the New York Home System.
“As promised, I soon received the first check for my $70,000 refund,” Cohen said, referring to the combined payment of the two monthly installments.
