Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury in New York over a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Daniels claims she had an affair with the former US president in 2006. Trump denies the affair, but has admitted directing his one-time lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 for her silence.
Here is what we know so far:
- Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s spokesperson told the media: “This evening we contacted Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a supreme court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected.”
- Trump was expected to appear in court for his arraignment on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles said. At that point he would enter a plea on the charges.
- It is unclear whether Trump will be handcuffed at his appearance but he will be fingerprinted, photographed and processed for a felony arrest. His legal team is expected to vigorously fight the charges, and a timeline for a potential trial remains unclear.
- No former US president has ever been criminally indicted. The news will shake the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, in which Trump leads most polls.
- Trump attacked Bragg and US President Joe Biden in a statement released shortly after the news broke, claiming the indictment amounted to “political persecution”. “I believe this witch-hunt will backfire massively on Biden,” Trump said. “Our movement, and our party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden.”
- New York’s police have been told to all report for duty on Friday and be prepared to deal with “unusual disorder”, according to a memo seen by NBC.
I am Martin Belam in London, and I will be bringing you the latest updates and reaction as the US wakes up this morning to this unprecedented legal and political situation.
Ex-president expected to face arraignment on Tuesday; New York police warned they may face ‘unusual disorder’
Joining the chorus of Republicans claiming Donald Trump’s indictment is motivated by politics is Chuck Grassley, the Iowa lawmaker who is the most senior GOP senator in history.
In a tweet, he points his finger at Joe Biden’s brother and son, and claims the justice system is partial to Democrats – though in the case of Hunter Biden, the word, as of last October, was that federal prosecutors were nearing charges against him:
Pure politics. One system of Justice for Dems another for Republicans. FBI has had information about hunter & james biden potential criminal conduct for several years & no prosecution With trump it’s a different outcome
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 31, 2023
Donald Trump and his advisers had been anticipating the indictment for days – but the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports its arrival yesterday evening nonetheless caught them off guard:
Donald Trump and his top advisers were caught flat footed by the news of his indictment by the Manhattan grand jury over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, having expected no charges until at least the end of April and potentially never at all.
The former president reckoned – along with his aides – that recent reporting about the grand jury taking a break from next week meant prosecutors in the district attorney’s office were reconsidering whether to seek an indictment over the matter.
But that optimism proved to be misplaced when Trump was alerted at Mar-a-Lago to the indictment by his advisers, some of whom had decided to return to Washington after growing tired of waiting with him for several weeks for charges to materialize.
‘Let him go’: Biden on US reporter detention
As he departed for Mississippi, Biden shared a message for Russia after it detained the US reporter Evan Gershkovich earlier this week: “Let him go.”
The Biden administration reacted with fury to the news that Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal, was taken into custody on Wednesday during a reporting trip to Ekaterinburg, a city near the Urals region. He has been accused of espionage charges that carry a jail sentence of up to 20 years, but Russia experts say the arrest is akin to hostage-taking, with Moscow planning to use Gershkovich as leverage in negotiations with the US.
source:theguardian.com