President Trump Is Indicted by New York Grand Jury, a First in American History

A grand jury in New York City has reportedly voted to indict President Trump on charges involving hush-money payments to a porn actress, the first time in American history that a former president has faced criminal charges.The New York Times reported late Thursday that the grand jury empaneled by Manhattan’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, voted at some point in recent days to hand up the indictment. The exact charges are not known and will likely be disclosed in the coming days as Mr. Bragg’s office attempts to negotiate the terms under which Mr. Trump will surrender to authorities and face arraignment.The indictment was reportedly handed under seal to the clerk’s office at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse only minutes before the office closed at 5pm eastern time Thursday, the Times reported.Any indictment would raise the prospect of the spectacle of Mr. Trump being fingerprinted and a mugshot being taken, perhaps after being handcuffed by arresting officers. He would, as a former president, be accompanied by agents of the U.S. Secret Service throughout such a process.Lawyers for the former president, who has announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, have been told of the indictment and have indicated they will arrange for him to surrender and fly from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to New York for the arraignment.The New York indictment may be only the beginning of Mr. Trump’s troubles. He remains the subject of an investigation at Atlanta for his attempts to overturn the election results in that state following the 2020 election, as well a special counsel investigation out of Washington looking at whether he encouraged or abetted the supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and unlawfully took classified documents from his time in the White House to his estate in Florida. His supporters, however, believe the indictment could boost his odds of winning another term as president. There is nothing in the constitution explicitly stating that an indictment or even a criminal conviction precludes someone from being president. Officials accused of “high crimes and misdemeanors” may be barred from holding office, but Mr. Trump was acquitted both times when he was impeached by the House of Representatives and tried by the U.S. Senate.Mr. Trump himself issued a statement calling the indictment “political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable,” he said. “Indicting a completely innocent person.”An indictment presents distinct risks for Mr. Bragg’s office. While the charges are under seal, they will reportedly center on some combination of falsifying business records and campaign finance violations. The former offense is a misdemeanor under New York law, and becomes felonious only when added to a second crime. Writing in the Sun, Alan Dershowitz, who represented Mr. Trump in his second impeachment trial and won an acquittal, calls these alleged violations “novel and unprecedented technical crimes” that have never before been charged in this form. Given that the offenses date from 2016, Mr. Bragg will also have to contend with New York’s statutes of limitations, which bars charges brought belatedly.Mr. Trump’s attorneys are likely to observe that Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., declined to hand up indictments against the former president. Federal prosecutors have also taken a pass, even as they won a conviction against Mr. Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, for his role in the Stormy Daniels affair.In a statement released late Thursday, Mr. Cohen, a key witness in the case, said he took no pride in the news and reminded readers of the presumption of innocence that underpins America’s judicial system.“However, I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former President. Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter; but rather, just the beginning. Now that the charges have been filed, it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself. The two things I wish to say at this time is that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided to” the Mr. Bragg.The lawyer representing the actress at the center of the case, Stormy Daniels, said on Twitter that the indictment was “no cause for joy. The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected. Now let truth and justice prevail. No one is above the law.”James Jordan, a Republican congressman from Ohio who is among the House’s staunchest supporters of the former president, issued a one-word statement via Twitter after news of the indictment broke: “Outrageous,” he said.

President Trump Is Indicted by New York Grand Jury, a First in American History

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