Donald Trump indictment latest updates: Ex-president charged

Criminal charges

• The grand jury, which meets in secret, voted to indict the 76-year-old former Republican president following an investigation led by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
• While the indictment remains under seal, the charges against Trump are believed to relate to hush money payments made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Surrender

Bragg’s office said it had contacted Trump’s lawyer to coordinate his surrender and arraignment in New York at a future date.

At arraignments, defendants are presented with the charges facing them and generally enter a plea.

Read more here.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, says Trump’s indictment has divided the American people “largely along partisan lines”.

“Republicans generally criticizing the indictment against Donald Trump, many describing it as a weaponization of the legal process. Those are the words used by the speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy,” Hanna said.

He said these thoughts were echoed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who said he would not cooperate in any attempt to extradite Trump from Florida to face trial in Manhattan.

“On the other side, we heard from Representative Adam Schiff, who was typical of the Democratic reaction, saying that Trump’s criminal acts, as he put it, caught up with him and saying no matter how rich and powerful, nobody is above the law.”

Trump is not the only US president to have been dogged by legal and ethical scandals.

Two others have also been impeached by Congress, but Trump is the only president to have been impeached twice.

Bill Clinton was impeached in the mid-1990s for lying under oath about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky while Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868 for pushing the limits of his executive authority in a power struggle with Congress after the Civil War.

Richard Nixon resigned over his role in the Watergate break-in in the 1970s while Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and Ulysses S Grant in the late 19th century both became tied to scandals in which close aides were prosecuted. Neither president was ever charged.

Here are the key people at the centre of Trump’s New York criminal case:

Stormy Daniels

Daniels is a porn actor who has also had bit parts in mainstream films like The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. She was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about what she says was an awkward and unexpected sexual encounter with Trump at a 2006 celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe, a resort area in Nevada and California. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was paid the money in the final weeks of Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.

Michael Cohen

A lawyer by training, Cohen worked for the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2017, serving as Trump’s fixer. He once proudly proclaimed he’d “take a bullet” for his boss.

Cohen took the lead in arranging the payment to Daniels, passing it through a corporation he established for the purpose. He says he was then reimbursed by Trump, whose company logged the payment and related bonuses as “legal expenses”.

Alvin Bragg

Manhattan’s first Black district attorney, Bragg could become the first prosecutor anywhere to bring a criminal case against a former US president. The Democrat inherited an investigation of Trump when he took office in January 2022.

Joseph Tacopina

A Brooklyn-born lawyer known for his sharp suits and celebrity clientele, Tacopina is the public face of Trump’s defence team.

Tacopina’s past clients have included the rappers Meek Mill, Jay-Z and A$AP Rocky and baseball great Alex Rodriguez.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg became the first prosecutor in US history to charge a former or sitting president when he filed his indictment against Donald Trump.

The 49-year-old Democrat is no stranger to landmark moments: he is the first Black Manhattan DA, winning election to the post in November 2021.

The New York grand jury’s indictment of Trump over hush money paid to Daniels has put Bragg firmly in the national spotlight and drawn the ire of conservatives across the United States.

The Democrat ran for DA as a progressive candidate, pledging to seek alternatives to imprisonment and to increase prosecutions of white-collar financial crimes.

Born in Harlem in 1973, Bragg has said his experiences of aggressive policing by the New York Police Department (NYPD) when he was a teenager in the 1980s shaped his support for restorative justice.

He told The American Prospect magazine in 2021 that he had been “deeply affected by the criminal justice system, most directly through three gunpoint stops by the NYPD during unconstitutional stops”.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office successfully prosecuted former US President Donald Trump’s business on tax fraud charges last year, leading to a $1.61m criminal penalty.

The presiding judge in that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee the Daniels case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, was seen leaving his office after confirming that Donald Trump had been indicted.

He said prosecutors were working to arrange the former president’s surrender.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was seen leaving his office after the historic decision to indict Donald Trump.

Bragg has led the investigation into hush-money paid to an adult film star, which led to a grand jury voting to charge the former US president 👇 pic.twitter.com/FHYqB3udzd

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 31, 2023

The Manhattan investigation into hush money paid to a porn star is just one of several legal challenges concerning Trump.

Trump also faces a separate criminal probe into whether he unlawfully tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia, and two investigations by a special counsel over his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

Donald Trump is expected to surrender in the coming days after a grand jury voted to indict the former president over a hush-money payment made to an adult film actress.

Al Jazeera’s @elizondogabriel explains what happens next ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/NglRbn03YZ

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) March 31, 2023

Former US President Donald Trump has appealed to his supporters to provide money for a legal defence.

He has raised more than $2m since March 18, according to his campaign, and called for people to protest.

A small number of supporters rallied at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida on Thursday, waving flags along the highway, while a critic of the former president held a sign near the New York District Attorney’s office reading: “Lock him up and throw away the key.”

Social media users shared photos of a 1973 front-page New York Times article that reported the US Department of Justice bringing a suit in the Federal Court in Brooklyn against the Trump Management Corporation for violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968 in its operation of 39 buildings.

Trump’s indictment on Thursday marked 50 years since his name first made headlines over accusations of discrimination against Black tenants.

It's been almost exactly 50 years since the world first heard Donald Trump's name, on the front page of the New York Times in Oct 1973, when he and his dad were accused of breaking the law. It has taken 50 years to actually get an indictment against him for breaking a law. Today. pic.twitter.com/H3nDHhYtWA

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 30, 2023

Top newspapers in the US have given a mixed reaction to Trump’s historic indictment.

The New York Times, which is generally known for its liberal editorial line, broadly welcomed the charges against Trump, who it said spent years “ignoring democratic and legal norms and precedents” and “behaving as if rules didn’t apply to him”.

But The Washington Post reacted cautiously to Trump’s indictment, expressing doubt about the strength of the case against the former president.

The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, described Trump’s indictment as a “sad day for the country, with political ramifications that are unpredictable and probably destructive”.

The indictment of former President Donald Trump has thrust the 2024 presidential election into uncharted territory, raising the remarkable prospect that the leading contender for the Republican nomination will seek the White House while also facing trial for criminal charges in New York.

The indictment raises profound questions for the GOP’s future, particularly as Trump faces the possibility of additional charges soon, in Atlanta and Washington.

While that might galvanise his supporters, the turmoil could threaten the GOP’s standing in the very swing-state suburbs that have abandoned the party in three successive elections, eroding its grip on the White House, Congress and key governorships.

Trump has spent four decades managing to skirt this type of legal jeopardy and expressed confidence again late Thursday, blaming the charges on “thugs and radical left monsters”.

Trump has long warned he may be arrested over the New York probe into hush money payments but when the indictment was announced on Thursday, the former president and his advisers were caught off guard, according to The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Trump and some of his aides in recent weeks had become confident there would be no movement until the end of April, the Times reported, while some advisers – including Boris Epshteyn – had even begun telling the former president he would not be indicted at all, the Post said.

The US newspapers cited people familiar with the matter.

After the grand jury indictment, Trump was angry but mainly focused on the political implications of the charges and not the legal consequences, the Times said, citing people familiar with his thinking.

A lawyer for Trump has told the AFP news agency that Trump is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday.

Susan Necheles said in an email that “we do expect the arraignment to occur on Tuesday” but did not elaborate further.

At an arraignment, a defendant is presented with the charges facing them and generally enters a plea. A judge then decides whether they should be released on bail or taken into custody.

Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she first crossed paths with Trump in the summer of 2006 during a charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, on the border between California and Nevada.

Daniels was 27 at the time and Trump was 60.

She claims they went on to have what “may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had”. Trump has denied they ever had sexual relations, accusing Daniels of “extortion” and saying her claims are a “total con job”.

What is known for sure is that Daniels received $130,000 – a hush payment – just before the 2016 presidential election in which Trump ran as the Republican nominee.

Read more here.

Michael Cohen, a key witness in the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against Trump, said the indictment marked “an important day” for “justice” and “accountability” in the United States.

Cohen, who was once Trump’s lawyer, served prison time after pleading guilty in 2018 to federal charges, including campaign finance violations for arranging payouts to Daniels as well as model Karen McDougal to keep them from going public.

“What I did, I did at the direction of, for the benefit, and in cooperation with Donald J Trump,” Cohen told the MSNBC broadcaster. “And so, I ended up being forced to plead guilty. I was charged, I was fined, and I was ultimately sentenced to several of these things that they’re looking at with Donald. What’s good for one has to be good for all.”

Cohen added that he believed Trump “right now is terrified”.

“This is one of his biggest fears, that he would be called out for who and what he is.”

Nikki Haley, who is challenging Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, has also spoken out against the former president’s indictment.

“From everything I’ve seen from this New York District Attorney, this would be something he would be doing for political points,” she told Fox News, referring to Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat.

“What we know is when you get into political prosecutions like this, it’s more about revenge than it is about justice,” she said.

Haley served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

This is more about revenge than it is about justice. pic.twitter.com/08ooKRIKJF

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 30, 2023

Trump is expected to be fingerprinted and photographed when he surrenders to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York early next week, according to Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo.

Reporting from New York City, Elizondo said it is unlikely the public will see Trump in handcuffs.

“That’s because the former president has not been convicted. This is only an indictment. This case will most likely go to a trial and that is when a jury will decide if he’s guilty or not guilty. When he turns himself in here, it is part of the normal judicial process,” Elizondo said.

“Very rarely in cases like this are the suspects put in handcuffs. Nevertheless, he does have to turn himself in. And that in itself will be quite a dramatic image to see.”

Elizondo added: “It will be a critical moment with a lot of security here. The Secret Service, the FBI, the New York Police Department, as well as court security officials, will all be making arrangements on how they negotiate a former president turning himself in to the authorities. This is an unprecedented case.”

Read more here.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has called Trump’s indictment an “outrage” that appears to be “nothing more than a political persecution”.

Pence made the comments in an interview with CNN.

“I think the American people will look at this and see it as one more example of the criminalisation of politics in the country,” he said.

Pence, a potential candidate in the 2024 Republican primary, added that the move against Trump has “no bearing on our decision” to launch his own presidential campaign.

He told CNN that he intends to travel around the country and listen to Americans.

Stormy Daniels, the adult film star at the centre of the New York hush-money probe, celebrated the indictment news on Twitter by thanking her supporters.

She also quipped that she could not respond at present because she does not “want to spill [her] champagne”.

She ended her post with a plug for her merchandise line.

National security consultant David Bolger has said it was the grand jury, a group of randomly selected citizens – not political rivals – who voted to indict Trump.

“So there’s no politicisation here and I think it’s a little disingenuous for the former president to be saying this along with his acolytes in Congress,” Bolger told Al Jazeera.

Trump is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday for arraignment when he will be presented with formal charges, NBC News and the New York Times have reported, citing the former president’s lawyer Susan Necheles.

The exact charges against Trump remain unclear.

Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who often clashed with Trump during his time in office, appeared to welcome the criminal charges against the former president.

“SO Trump finally got indicted! I predicted he would and I predicted that Stormy Daniels would get him! Sometimes justice works!” she wrote on Twitter.

SO Trump finally got indicted! I predicted he would and I predicted that Stormy Daniels would get him! Sometimes justice works! #TrumpIndictment

— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) March 30, 2023

Trump has said he cannot have a fair trial in New York, the largely liberal city from which the jury will be selected. The former president himself is from New York but lives in Florida.

“They only brought this Fake, Corrupt, and Disgraceful Charge against me because I stand with the American People, and they know that I cannot get a fair trial in New York!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Congressman Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, has said Trump should defend himself in court, not in “the political sphere”.

“Now as a criminal defendant, Donald Trump has numerous rights to defend himself. But that defense should take place in the court of law, not in the halls of Congress or in the political sphere. The rule of law demands it,” Goldman wrote in a social media post.

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, has said that the best response to his father’s indictment is to elect the former president to the White House again.

“This isn’t just the radical left weaponizing the government to target their political enemies, this is them weaponizing the government to interfere in the 2024 election to stop Trump,” Trump Jr wrote on Twitter.

“The only solution is to shove it down their throats and put him back in the White House!!! #MAGA”

This isn't just the radical left weaponizing the government to target their political enemies, this is them weaponizing the government to interfere in the 2024 election to stop Trump. The only solution is to shove it down their throats and put him back in the White House!!! #MAGA

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 30, 2023

Trump can still run for president, even if he is convicted of the charges he is facing, legal scholars say.

The US Constitution does not prevent people facing indictments or even felons from seeking the presidency, although several states bar people who have been convicted of a felony from voting.

Court appearances may complicate Trump’s campaign schedule. But some observers say the charges could potentially boost his election chances by making the former president once again front-page news – and giving fuel to his accusations of bias in the political system.

Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a frequent target of racist attacks by Trump, has urged political leaders to support “justice and accountability” regardless of party affiliation.

“When someone – no matter how powerful they are – is suspected of a criminal act, our justice system investigates, charges and convicts them in accordance with due process,” Omar said in a statement.

“This is just one of many criminal acts for which Donald Trump is being investigated. Make no mistake: The fact that one of the most powerful people in the world was investigated impartially and indicted is testament to the fact that we still live in a nation of laws. And no one is above the law.”

Trump has been sharing statements of support from Republican legislators on his platform Truth Social, as conservatives once again rush to his defence.

“The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents,” said one post by Steve Scalise, a top House Republican.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is widely seen as Trump’s main opponent in the Republican presidential primaries, has called the charges “un-American”.

He promised that Florida – where Trump currently resides – will not “assist in an extradition request” for the former president.

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” DeSantis said in a Tweet.

Trump has been regularly criticising DeSantis in social media posts, signalling that he views the Florida governor as his most serious rival.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz has strongly denounced the charges against Trump.

“The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage,” Cruz wrote on Twitter.

“This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.”

The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The “substance” of this political persecution is utter garbage.

This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 30, 2023

Republican strategist Adolfo Franco has said Trump’s indictment will help his election prospects in the GOP presidential primaries, as other candidates will feel compelled to defend him.

“We’ll see how this plays out, we haven’t seen the details of the indictment. But certainly, in the short term, it has already paid dividends since President Trump announced a couple of weeks ago that he was on the verge of being indicted,” Franco told Al Jazeera in a television interview.

“It’s very clear that this will further help him in the primary, there’s no question. I can’t imagine any of the declared — the few declared — Republican primary candidates for president will not come to his defence, as well as the ones that are undeclared, Governor DeSantis, former Vice President Pence and others.”

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has confirmed the indictment against Trump, saying it has been in touch with Trump’s lawyer to “coordinate” the former president’s “surrender”.

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” a spokesperson for Bragg’s office said in a statement.

pic.twitter.com/3mGeW1QmJf

— Alvin Bragg (@ManhattanDA) March 30, 2023

Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy has hit out at Alvin Bragg, accusing him of meddling in the 2024 presidential election.

“Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election,” McCarthy, a Republican, wrote in a tweet.

McCarthy added that Americans “will not tolerate this injustice”, promising that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives would hold Bragg’s “unprecedented abuse of power to account”.

Alvin Bragg has irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election.

As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump.

The American people will not…

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) March 30, 2023

In a statement about Trump’s indictment, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) acknowledged the former president’s continued influence over the Republican Party.

“No matter what happens in Trump’s upcoming legal proceedings, it’s obvious the Republican Party remains firmly in the hold of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans,” the DNC said, referring to the former president’s slogan, “Make America Great Again”.

DNC statement in response to Donald Trump’s reported indictment:

No matter what happens in Trump’s upcoming legal proceedings, it’s obvious the Republican Party remains firmly in the hold of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans.

— Ammar Moussa (@ammarmufasa) March 30, 2023

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg may choose to “slow-walk” announcing the indictment, Al Jazeera correspondent Mike Hanna has said.

“This would give authorities time to get security in place, particularly in a case like this one,” Hanna said.

“The indictment becomes official when the foreperson of that grand jury formally signs that indictment. Now, according to several news agencies, this is what has happened in the last few hours, and it has been confirmed by one of Donald Trump’s lawyers that the indictment has been signed.”

Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally who previously served as a personal lawyer to the former president, has said the indictment marks a “sad day for America”.

“The 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has been indicted by a Grand Jury in New York following District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s irresponsible and politically-motivated efforts to take him down,” Giuliani wrote on Twitter.

The 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has been indicted by a Grand Jury in New York following District Attorney Alvin Bragg's irresponsible and politically-motivated efforts to take him down.

A sad day for America. pic.twitter.com/pPjA9ZLUac

— Rudy W. Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) March 30, 2023

Jim Jordan, the right-wing chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has reacted with a single word to Trump’s indictment: “Outrageous.”

Outrageous.

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) March 30, 2023

Trump, who for weeks has been calling the investigation against him politically motivated, has denounced Thursday’s indictment as “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history”.

“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen their obsession with ‘Get Trump’, but now they’ve done the unthinkable – indicting a completely innocent person in a blatant act of election interference,” he said in a statement.

This “Witch-Hunt” will “backfire massively” on US President Joe Biden, Trump added.

TRUMP reacts in statement: “This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history”

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 30, 2023

Clark Brewster, the lawyer representing adult film star Stormy Daniels, struck a sombre tone on Twitter, acknowledging the indictment against Trump but saying it was “no cause for joy”.

Daniels hired the Tulsa-based lawyer after dropping her previous lawyer, Michael Avenatti. She had previously sued Trump for libel after he called her statements about their alleged affair false.

The indictment of Donald Trump is no cause for joy. The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected. Now let truth and justice prevail. No one is above the law. #teamstormy

— clark brewster (@cbrew1) March 30, 2023

Far-right Republican Congressman Paul Gosar has decried “third world politics” after Trump’s indictment and voiced support for the former president.

“I proudly stand with Donald J. Trump,” he wrote on Twitter.

This is third world politics from a Soros DA who needs to be investigated. This is clear and brazen political persecution.

I proudly stand with Donald J. Trump.

— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) March 30, 2023

Congressman Adam Schiff, the former Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has called Trump’s indictment a “sobering and unprecedented development”.

“If we are to be a nation of laws, then we must apply the law equally and to everyone, regardless of their station,” Schiff said in a statement.

The indictment of a former president is unprecedented.

But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged.

A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office.

Especially when they do.

To do otherwise is not democracy.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 30, 2023

While the exact charges against Trump remain unclear, the case revolves around a hush-money payment the ex-president’s former fixer and personal lawyer Michael Cohen paid to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 elections.

Read more information on how the case developed and what could happen next here.

Trump’s second oldest son Eric has called the indictment of the former president, who is running for the White House in 2024, an “opportunistic targeting of a political opponent in a campaign year”.

“This is third world prosecutorial misconduct,” he wrote in a social media post.

This is third world prosecutorial misconduct. It is the opportunistic targeting of a political opponent in a campaign year.

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) March 30, 2023

A grand jury in New York has voted to indict Trump, making him the first former US president to face criminal charges.

Several US media outlets and Trump’s lawyer confirmed the indictment, which was first reported by the New York Times.

The exact charges remain unclear but they follow a years-long investigation into allegations that Trump authorised a $130,000 hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.