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A Manhattan grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, multiple sources close to Trump confirmed to NPR.
The charges, which are expected to be released in coming days, make Trump the first former president in United States history to be criminally indicted. The grand jury’s indictment is expected to be unsealed in the coming days.
« This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’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 the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a statement Thursday evening.
The grand jury has been examining hush-money payments that Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her not going public with allegations she had an affair with Trump.
Trump has denied having had an affair with Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, although he has admitted reimbursing Cohen for money paid to her.
The former president issued an angry response to the indictment, calling it political persecution.
« This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history, » he wrote in the statement. « 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 hard-working men and women of this Country — have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement. »
With charges looming, Trump earlier this month urged his supporters to mount large protests.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to numerous federal charges, including making illegal campaign contributions in the form of buying women’s silence about their alleged relationships with Trump.
In his plea, Cohen outlined the scheme: In the final month of the 2016 presidential campaign, he paid $130,000 to silence Daniels, who claimed she had an affair with Donald Trump.
