Trump’s third White House bid is on the line now that he’s been indicted on criminal charges by the Manhattan district attorney.
Former President Donald Trump was indicted on Thursday in New York, and while the charges have yet to be released, he was being investigated on charges of falsifying business records in connection to hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump’s indictment comes after years of investigations in multiple states, something he called a «witch hunt» designed to damage his reputation. Prosecutors have been criticized for taking too long to indict Trump and for relentlessly pursuing him because of a political bias in the Department of Justice (DOJ). Trump first announced that his arrest was imminent back on March 18, saying it could come as early as March 21, although the timing was unclear.
On Thursday, March 30, Trump’s attorney announced that the former president had been indicted, although he didn’t elaborate on what the charges were. Trump denied any wrongdoing in all investigations. Ahead of the indictment, his attorney, Joe Tacopina, admitted that Trump signed off on the Daniels payment. But he said it wasn’t a «crime» and denied that Trump lied when he said he didn’t know about the payment in 2018.
«Here’s why it’s not a lie,» Tacopina said on March 15. «Because it was a confidential settlement. So, if he acknowledged that, he would be violating the confidential settlement.
