On Thursday, a grand jury in New York accused former US President Donald Trump for payments made to a porn actress as hush money during his 2016 campaign.
The 76-year-old Republican is now the first ex-president of the US to be charged with a crime. Trump’s current presidential campaign, in which he seeks to win reelection, will undoubtedly change after his indictment.
And it will eternally symbolize the memory of the former president, who overcame two impeachments, resisted prosecution in cases involving the US Capitol riot and missing confidential documents, only to find herself in court for a sex scandal involving adult film star Stormy Daniels, 44.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that it had been in touch with Donald Trump’s attorneys on Thursday night to “arrange his surrender.” “for arraignment in New York, where the criminal charges brought against him would then be made public.
The indictment was criticized by Trump as “political retaliation and electoral meddling, “swearing it would backfire on his replacement, President Joseph Biden, and lashing out at prosecutors and his Democratic rivals.
When someone surrenders for arraignment, as Trump has said he would if charged, they are often fingerprinted, photographed, and maybe even handcuffed.
In the Republican camp, Trump’s supporters and sons criticized the indictment as “un-American,” while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is anticipated to challenge Trump for the party’s nomination, blasted it as a vendetta intended to disrupt his 2024 campaign.”
The leading Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, said that the indictment had “irreparably hurt “the nation.
A frightening and unusual development, according to the senior Democrat Adam Schiff, who served as the chief prosecutor in Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.”
“In all of American history, the indictment and arrest of a former president is unprecedented, “said a statement, Schiff. “But, Trump’s alleged criminal behavior is also illegal.”
The announcement was welcomed by Daniels’ attorney who saw it as evidence that “no one is above the law.””
Clark Brewster wrote, “The indictment of Donald Trump is no reason for pleasure. Now let truth and justice triumph.
Potential protests
On March 18, Trump said he anticipated to be jailed soon for paying Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about a tryst she alleges they had ten years earlier. Daniels got the money weeks before the election that put Trump in office.
Trump predicted his indictment and simultaneously called for protests, expressing concern that it may result in “possible murder & devastation” that “could be disastrous for our Nation.”
His comments put New York on edge for potential demonstrations, but as long as the grand jury panel heard testimony, there was little chance of an immediate indictment. That is, until Thursday.
A small group of anti-Trump demonstrators and a media scrum rapidly assembled outside the district attorney’s office on Thursday, but largely things remained quiet.
In 2019, Trump’s ex-attorney Michael Cohen, who has testified before the grand jury, told Congress that he paid Daniels on the president’s behalf and was subsequently repaid.
The jury was instructed to evaluate whether there had been a cover-up meant to help Trump’s campaign by burying the problem after prosecutors said the checks were not legally recorded.
Of of the three significant investigations involving the former president, the New York inquiry is the first to make a judgment on charges.
In addition, Trump is under criminal investigation in Georgia for the 2020 election and in Washington for the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which was carried out by the former president’s followers who wanted to keep him in office following his defeat to Joseph Biden.
Representational frontrunner
Trump, who is widely seen as the leading candidate to represent the Republican Party in the 2024 presidential election, has called all of the probes political retaliation.
His opponents and critics both have expressed doubts about the legal viability of the hush money issue, making the effect of an indictment on his prospects of winning the race unclear.
Detractors are concerned that if Trump is exonerated, it will be simpler to label the investigation as a “witch hunt.” “any potential charges in situations that are arguably more severe, including Trump’s attempts to have Georgia’s election results overturned.
Analysts predict that Trump’s supporters will show out in greater numbers as a result of the Manhattan accusations, improving his prospects of winning the party primary.
Trump had his first campaign event in Texas on Saturday, speaking to a far smaller crowd of supporters than the 15,000 he had anticipated in Waco, Texas.
The innocence of individuals means absolutely nothing to these lunatics on the extreme left, “He informed the enraged audience.
