NEW YORK – A New York grand jury has voted to indict former US president Donald Trump over cash payments made to a porn star before the 2016 election, one of his lawyers confirmed Thursday.
The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, is likely to be announced in the coming days, according to The New York Times which cited four people with knowledge of the matter.
The 76-year-old Republican would be the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime – depending on the 2024 White House race in which Trump is running to regain office.
On March 18, Trump declared that he expected to be arrested within days over the payment to Stormy Daniels – who received $130,000 a week before the 2016 election to stop her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump a decade earlier.
But after days of suspense — putting New York on edge for possible protests — a grand jury panel convened by a Manhattan prosecutor continued to hear witnesses, and an indictment appeared imminent.
Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina told the Associated Press that he was informed that a months-long grand jury meeting had voted to indict Trump. The specific charges were not immediately made public.
Michael Cohen arrives at the district attorney’s office to testify before a grand jury in New York, Monday, March 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who testified before the grand jury, told Congress in 2019 that he made the payment to Daniels on Trump’s behalf and was later repaid.
The investigation in New York is the first to reach a charging decision out of the three main investigations into the former president.
Trump also faces felony investigations in Georgia related to the 2020 election and in Washington during the former president’s attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which they hoped would keep him in office after his election loss.
Trump, who is seeking to be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee again in 2024, has branded all the investigations a “witch hunt” and political persecution.
The indictment is likely to embolden critics who say Trump lied and cheated his way to the top and attack supporters who feel a Democratic prosecutor is unfairly targeting the Republican.
