Donald Trump will finally face the music for some of his alleged crimes after a grand jury in New York issued an indictment Thursday in connection to hush-money payments made to a porn star claiming she had an affair with the former president.
The bombastic election denier was indicted by the grand jury on criminal charges stemming from his alleged encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels.
Though prosecutors haven’t said what charges the grand jury issued the indictments on, it’s alleged that Trump made a $130,000 payment to Daniels through his former attorney Michael Cohen.
It’s believed that the payment was issued to buy Daniels’ silence.
Further, it’s alleged that Trump illegally falsified records and violated campaign finance laws.
The twice-impeached former president now faces the ignominy of becoming the first U.S. president indicted criminally.
In 1872, police in Washington, D.C., stopped President Ulysses S. Grant for speeding in a horse and buggy at the corner of 13th and M streets. The officers issued the president a fine and immediately released him.
Trump also faces potential conspiracy and racketeering charges in Georgia, where Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis has been working to secure an indictment against the MAGA leader.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chaired the congressional committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, told the Black Press that a special federal prosecutor had received a mountain of evidence suggesting Trump’s guilt.
Five police officers died in connection to the Trump-inspired riot at the Capitol.
Thompson said that failure by federal authorities to prosecute Trump for his role in the insurrection would be “a travesty of justice.”
“Nobody is above the law, not even the president of the United States,” Thompson said. “What we saw after interviewing more than 1,000 people – the majority of whom identify with the Republican Party – we are convinced that whatever happened, happened because of one person. So, we are clear in our recommendation.”
While Trump has called for demonstrations in response to his arrest, authorities have already begun preparing.
Last week, barricades were put up around the criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan where the former president was supposed to be arraigned.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other supporters lashed out at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, claiming his investigation amounted to a witch hunt.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.), and House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) sent Bragg a letter demanding he appears before Congress.
“This indictment comes after years of your office searching for a basis — any basis — on which to bring charges, ultimately settling on a novel legal theory untested anywhere in the country and one that federal authorities declined to pursue,” the lawmakers wrote.
“If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”
They said that Cohen, who used to work for Trump and seems to be the main witness against the former president, has a “serious credibility problem.”
They demanded Bragg provide them with documentation of any communications he’d had with the U.S. Department of Justice over the past six years.
Already on the defensive in multiple jurisdictions, Trump’s current attorneys have asked for a judge to toss the final report and evidence from a special grand jury in Georgia.
The attorneys seek to remove Willis, a Black woman, as prosecutor.
“President Donald J. Trump hereby moves to quash the [special purpose grand jury’s] report and preclude the use of any evidence derived therefrom, as it was conducted under an unconstitutional statute, through an illegal and unconstitutional process, and by a disqualified District Attorney’s Office who violated prosecutorial standards and acted with disregard for the gravity of the circumstances and the constitutional rights of those involved,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a court filing.