New York grand jury votes to indict Donald Trump

A US grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump for his role in paying hush-money to a porn star. Now the former president has reacted.

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A grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump over hush money paid to a porn star who claims she slept with him.

US news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNN and the New York Times are reporting that the indictment was confirmed in New York on Friday (AEDT), just 24 hours after reports suggested that their decision would be delayed for a month.

It makes Mr Trump – who is running to return to the White House in next year’s election – the first US president in history to be hit with criminal charges.

Mr Trump blasted the indictment, claiming it was an example of “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history”.

Former US President Donald Trump and adult film star Stormy Daniels. Picture: AFP/Getty

“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant election interference,” he said.

“Never before in our nation’s history has this been done. The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponising our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, said: “This evening we contacted Mr 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 elected,” the spokesman added.

Mr Trump, in a fiery statement, called Mr Bragg a “disgrace” and tried to argue the “witch hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden”.

“So our movement, and our party - united and strong - will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”.

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy claimed Mr Bragg had “irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our presidential election”.

“As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump,” the top Republican leader said.

“The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”

Mr Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said Mr Trump would likely be arraigned in New York early next week, according to CNN.

All New York police officers have been asked to wear their full uniforms in coming days and have been told to prepare to mobilise at any time.

“I think the American people will look at this and see it as one more example of the criminalization of politics in this country,” he said on CNN.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis - Mr Trump’s main rival for the Republican nomination for next year’s election - said he would use his power to block any extradition request to bring the former president from his Florida home to New York.

But that is considered unlikely to be necessary, given Mr Trump’s allies have indicated that he would cooperate and surrender in Manhattan.

Mr DeSantis, who recently needled his rival over the case, moved to attack the indictment on Twitter as “un-American”.

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” he said.

He accused Mr Bragg of bending the law “to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct”

“Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent,” Mr DeSantis said.

Clark Brewster, Ms Daniels’s lawyer, said 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,” he posted on Twitter.

The porn star then shared his statement, saying: “Thank you.”

Ms Daniels said on Twitter that she was celebrating with champagne as her supporters inundated her with requests for autographs and merchandise.“Thank you to everyone for your support and love! I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond ... also don’t want to spill my champagne,” she posted.

The indictment is yet to be made public but means the former president will soon have to come to New York to be arrested and charged.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied the case against him, saying it is “something that is not a crime, not a misdemeanour, not an affair”.

Stormy Daniels received $A194,000 in hush money. Picture: AFP/Getty Images North America

The 76-year-old has foreshadowed “death and destruction” if he were to be charged and urged supporters to hit the streets, putting police in New York on high alert in recent days.

The exact charges against Mr Trump remain a mystery, although the grand jury was understood to be focusing on whether his business records were falsified to cover up the $US130,000 ($A194,000) paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the days before the 2016 presidential election.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had been considering whether to upgrade that to a felony by alleging it was also a violation of federal campaign finance laws.

But legal experts warned such a case had not been previously tested and could prove difficult to prosecute.

The saga had been dubbed a “zombie case” because state and federal prosecutors had regularly considered and then decided against laying charges against the former president.

In New York, indictments are typically kept secret until defendants make their initial appearance in court.

Law enforcement authorities have been privately preparing for charges to be laid and negotiating how Mr Trump could travel from his Florida home to surrender in Manhattan, where he will have to be photographed and fingerprinted and potentially even handcuffed.

He has reportedly told allies that he wants a public “perp walk” to create a media storm that would fuel his 2024 campaign.

The payment to Ms Daniels was delivered by Mr Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, who was later sentenced to three years behind bars in part because of his role in the hush money scandal.

He has since become a key witness in the Manhattan District Attorney’s case, which has been before a grand jury since January.

Donald Trump pictured during an election campaign rally in Waco, Texas, just days ago. Picture: AFP

In a statement reported by the New York Times, Mr Cohen said he took “no pride” in the indictment.

“However, I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former president,” he said.

“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.”

Top congressional Republican Jim Jordan, a key supporter of the former president, tweeted: “Outrageous.”

Fellow Trump ally Matt Gaetz blasted the case as a “politically motivated prosecution”.

Democrat Adam Schiff, a member of the committee which investigated the January 6 riot stoked by Mr Trump, said the indictment was unprecedented.

“But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Mr Trump has been engaged,” he said.

“A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office. Especially when they do.”

Originally published as New York grand jury votes to indict Donald Trump