Donald Trump indicted on criminal charges in New York

Washington: Donald Trump is expected to hand himself in within days after becoming the first former US president to face criminal charges, in a development that could reshape the presidential race and threatens to further divide America.

The 76-year-old claimed he is the victim of “political interference at the highest level” after a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him over a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Despite claiming he was about to be arrested almost two weeks ago, Trump’s indictment on Thursday (Friday AEDT), caught members of his campaign team by surprise. His lawyer Joe Tacopina said he had just been informed of the charges by Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Thursday afternoon.

The former Republican president is expected to appear at the prosecutor’s office early next week to be processed, fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken before appearing in court where his charges would be outlined and he would enter a plea.

Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly attacked the investigation, called the indictment “political persecution” and predicted it would damage Democrats at the 2024 presidential election.

“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 in a statement.

The indictment could complicate Trump’s bid to return to the White House and test the Republicans’ loyalty to the former president, who previously said he would continue campaigning for nomination even if he is charged with a crime.

Authorities are also bracing themselves for potential clashes after Trump issued a post on his Truth Social online platform last week, saying he would be arrested and urging supporters to take to the streets on his behalf.

In Florida, after news of the indictment broke, some of his fans gathered on the Southern Boulevard Bridge near his Mar-a-Lago resort holding flags and signs of support, while in New York, all police officers have been ordered to be in full uniform Friday and ready to be deployed.

Many Republicans have so far rallied around the former president. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted that “the American people will not tolerate this injustice” as he vowed that the House of Representatives would “hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account”.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise called the indictment a “sham” and “one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponising government to attack their political opponents”.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is regarded as Trump’s biggest rival, said he “will not assist” in any extradition request by Manhattan District Attorney’s office, while slamming the indictment as “un-American”.

The investigation derives from an alleged affair Trump had with Daniels in 2006, when he was a reality TV star and she was in her 20s.

Daniels had sought to sell her story to the press for years, and as the 2016 election approached between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Trump’s then “fixer”, Michael Cohen, took out a home equity loan to pay the actress to keep quiet.

While hush money does not constitute a crime in itself, it is alleged that Trump reimbursed Cohen, falsified business records and then sought to cover up an unreported campaign donation, which is in violation of New York state law.

The former president – who was invited to testify before the grand jury but refused – has denied the allegations and told a rally in Texas last Saturday that even if he were to have an affair, Daniels “would not be the one”.

In a tweet after the announcement, Daniels wrote: “Thank you to everyone for your support and love! I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond ... also I don’t want to spill my champagne.”

As the case reached its final stretch last week, New York City police officers began erecting scaffolding outside Manhattan Criminal Court and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to mitigate the potential for violence.

Police officers stand outside Manhattan Criminal Court in New York.Credit: AP

The Manhattan probe was one of several involving the actions of the twice-impeached president, and is regarded by legal experts as the weakest case against Trump.

Other investigations include a Department of Justice probe into the events of the January 6 Capitol attack; a Georgia-based investigation into election interference in that state; and another Justice Department investigation into the handling of classified documents.

However, the indictment represents the first time a US president – while in office or afterwards – has faced criminal charges.

In an attack on Bragg and his team, Trump had warned of “potential death and destruction” if he was indicted.

“What kind of person can charge another person, in this case, a former president of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting president in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a crime, when it is known by all that NO crime has been committed, & also that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our country?” Trump wrote last Friday, US time.

While Trump is the frontrunner to become the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, about 44 per cent of Republicans say Trump should drop out from the contest after his charges, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded this month.

Legal experts say that a trial could be at least a year away. Prosecutors would also have to reach a high bar to win the case, including proving that the hush money was paid with the election solely in mind and that the payment was “falsely accounted” as a legal retainer to Cohen.

Cohen was a key witness in the grand jury investigation but has come under fire for being an admitted liar and convicted felon.

With Reuters, AP

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