Donald Trump became the first former US president to be charged with a crime on Thursday after a New York grand jury indicted him for hush money payments made to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The 76-year-old Republican’s historic indictment, which comes despite his denial of any wrongdoing in relation to the payments made before the election that put him in the White House, is guaranteed to upend the current presidential contest in which Trump intends to win back the White House.
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.
Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles told AFP she anticipates arraignment to take place on Tuesday of the following week.
In the Republican camp, Trump’s allies and sons blasted the indictment as “un-American,” while his anticipated opponent for the party’s nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, blasted it as a vendetta meant to destroy his 2024 campaign.
The top Republican in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, claimed that the indictment had “irreparably destroyed” the nation. Mike Pence, a potential rival to Trump in 2024, termed it a “outrage” that will only “further serve to divide” the country.
Trump’s attorneys were contacted Thursday night to “arrange his surrender” in New York, with the criminal accusations against him to be made public at that time, according to the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
Trump blasted the indictment as “political persecution and electoral meddling,” lashing out at the police and his Democratic rivals while threatening his successor, Joe Biden, with the consequences.
As reported by CNN, surrendering for arraignment over up to 30 counts of corporate fraud would typically include being fingerprinted, photographed, and sometimes even handcuffed.