Former US President Donald Trump. Photo / AP
Donald Trump has reacted with fury after a New York grand jury voted to indict the former US president for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to pay hush money to an adult film actress.
In a lengthy statement, Trump branded the situation a “witch hunt”.
“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history. From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the Radical Left Democrats — the enemy of the hardworking men and women of this Country — have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement. You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this,” the statement reads.
“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable — indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference.
“Never before in our Nation’s history has this been done. The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponising our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.
“Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace. Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he’s doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on. This is how Bragg spends his time!
“I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden. The American people realise exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party — united and strong — will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has confirmed it has contacted Trump’s lawyer to “co-ordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal”.
Trump is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday next week.
Trump’s lawyers, Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina, also lashed out at the development.
“He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court,” they said.
On Thursday afternoon US time, news broke that a felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, would probably be revealed within days, the New York Times reports.
While the exact charges aren’t yet known, what is now clear is that Trump will be the first former president ever to face criminal charges. They come in the middle of his campaign to return to the White House in 2025, having lost his re-election bid to Joe Biden in 2020.
The case against Trump concerns alleged hush money payments given to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump denies any wrongdoing, and has hit out at district attorney Alvin L Bragg, a Democrat, and accused him of waging a politically-motivated witch hunt against him.
Surprisingly, under the US Constitution, an indictment or even a conviction would not impact Trump’s presidential eligibility in 2024.
Trump is accused of enlisting his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay Daniels a total of $US130,000 ($206,000) to keep quiet about an affair with him. Prosecutors allege Trump and Cohen conspired to cover up the true purpose of these payments, disguising them as routine legal expenses.
Cohen, who has since become a harsh public critic of his one-time boss, was charged and convicted over the scheme in 2018. Federal prosecutors in that case did not pursue Trump, leaving the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to investigate him at state level.
(Trump was still president at the time, and it’s a longstanding convention for the US Justice Department that a sitting president should not be prosecuted.)
Cohen has since released a statement about today’s extraordinary development.
“For the first time in our country’s history, a president (current or former) of the United States has been indicted,” the statement reads.
“I take no pride in issuing this statement and wish to also remind everyone of the presumption of innocence; as provided by the due process clause. However, I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former president.
“Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter; but rather, just the beginning. Now that the charges have been filed, it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself. The two things I wish to say at this time is that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided.”
Meanwhile, Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, Clark Brewster, tweeted the news was “no cause for joy”.
“The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected,” he posted.
“Now let truth and justice prevail. No one is above the law.”
Calls for Trump supporters to ‘protest’
Trump supporters have erupted over the news, with Republican Jim Jordan tweeting the situation was “outrageous”.
Former Trump administration official Sebastian Gorka went a step further, calling for supporters to “peacefully protest” the indictment.
“We are going to see who are the politicians, who are the grifters, and who are the America First patriots,” he said in an online broadcast.
“This is a time of sorting.”
Trump has long denied doing anything wrong, and in recent social media posts he dismissed the New York investigation as a “witch hunt” motivated by political bias. He also maintains he never had an affair with Daniels in the first place.
While Cohen claims he paid Daniels “in co-ordination with and at the direction of” Trump, the former president has said the payments were intended to stop her from making “false and extortionist accusations”.
The New York indictment is one of several legal headaches for Trump, who is also being investigated by the Justice Department over his role in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol Building in Washington DC, and over his handling of classified government documents after leaving office.
In addition, he is being investigated by the District Attorney’s office in Fulton County, Georgia, over his actions in the wake of the 2020 election. Trump pressured election officials to declare him the state’s winner, despite his defeat to Biden there.
‘Turn it to his advantage’: Trump’s cunning plan
Arthur Sinodinos, Australia’s outgoing ambassador to the United States, spoke to news.com.au’s podcast I’ve Got News For You this week about what effect an indictment would have on Trump’s campaign.
“Look, he’s one of these characters who always tries to turn any adversity to his advantage. So if he’s indicted, he would just say, ‘this is a witch hunt’.
“He once boasted that he could kill or shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and he could get away with it. I mean, he really believes that he’s got the capacity to set his own rules.
“Now he wouldn’t want to be indicted, clearly, he’d prefer not to be indicted. But he’s got a political strategy to deal with it and try and turn it to his advantage.
“He announced that he would be arrested last Tuesday, he announced it, right … He then used that to raise money, to fundraise, right? So, he’s been a bit Teflon-esque.”
B-2 bombers and refuelling jets flew off the California coast overnight.