What we know about the first-ever indictment of a US president.
A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump for fraud associated with allegedly paying hush money in 2016 to porn actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an affair. Trump’s indictment, the first ever of a former US president, is expected to be announced within days, according to a New York Times report.
The Times report, based on five sources familiar with the case, said that an indictment would “likely be announced in the coming days.” Prosecutors working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will reportedly soon ask Trump “to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now.”
According to former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000, for which Trump’s business, the Trump Organization, later reimbursed him. Bragg’s case reportedly alleges that the Trump Organization falsely logged the payment to Daniels as a legal expense so it wouldn’t have to be disclosed as money benefiting Trump’s presidential campaign.
The former president is in ongoing legal jeopardy, federally and in the state of Georgia. Trump is facing at least four investigations, including into his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021, and possible mishandling of classified documents. And that legal jeopardy could have consequences not just for Trump but for American politics more broadly.
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