Donald Trump is the first ex-president in US history to face criminal charges. This was announced by the district attorney's office in Manhattan on Thursday evening (local time). Trump's lawyer was contacted to coordinate his transfer to New York for indictment, it said.
The indictment is still sealed. The exact charges and details are still unclear. The case is about hush money payments to a porn actress. Trump spoke of "political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history". Various Republicans also reacted with outrage and called the unprecedented step scandalous.
Shortly before his election as president in 2016, Trump paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels - this could conflict with campaign finance rules. The prosecutor's office in New York had been investigating the matter for years and finally appointed a so-called grand jury, which now voted to indict Trump in the matter.
US media, citing Trump's lawyers, reported that the ex-president could probably face justice in New York next week. There was initially no confirmation of this. The prosecutor in Manhattan said only that further details would be communicated as soon as a date for the indictment reading was set. Trump's lawyers had previously signaled that the ex-president would likely turn himself in if indicted.
Convicted criminals are theoretically allowed to run for office
A trial and a potential conviction that could see the Republican face several years in prison could politically jeopardize Trump's plans to run again for the presidency - in terms of the support of his party and the Republican base. In purely legal terms, on the other hand, Trump could theoretically also stand as a convicted criminal in the 2024 presidential election, as legal experts emphasize. Trump had publicly announced his presidential bid several months ago.
The 76-year-old reacted outraged to the accusation. "This is political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history," the Republican said in a written statement. Trump accused the Democrats of trying to harm him politically since his first presidential bid for the 2016 election and of harassing him with various investigations during his tenure. "The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession to 'get' Trump, but now they have done the unthinkable - impeach a completely innocent person in an act of blatant electoral interference," Trump said. "This has never happened in the history of our country." All of this will fall back on President Joe Biden and his Democrats.
Trump spoke of an attack on the country. It is also an attack on the "once" free elections, the US is now a "Third World country" and a nation in decline, wrote the Republican on the network Truth Social, which he co-founded.
No major protests so far
The ex-president had already claimed a few days ago that he was about to be arrested in the case - and called on his supporters to protest. New York then prepared for possible demonstrations and increased security around the courthouse in downtown Manhattan. So far, there have been no major protests. That could possibly follow.
Various Republicans reacted with outrage to the charges and saw them as an attack on democracy. The Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, attacked the New York Attorney Alvin Bragg. "While he routinely releases violent criminals to terrorize the public, he has used our sacred legal system against President Donald Trump," McCarthy wrote on Twitter. McCarthy is considered a Trump ally.
Even Trump's biggest internal party competitor, Ron DeSantis, criticized the approach. "When the legal system is used as a weapon to advance a political agenda, the rule of law is turned on its head," the Florida governor wrote on Twitter. DeSantis is also expected to run as a presidential candidate in the November 2024 election. Next to Trump, he is considered the most promising candidate from the ranks of the Republicans.
