Summary
That’s it for our live coverage for today. Here’s a look back at what happened:
A grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump in New York over a hush money payment made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. This is the first time in US history a former president has faced a criminal indictment. The charges remained under seal but the investigation centred on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.
Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles confirmed that Trump was expected to be taken into court on Tuesday for an arraignment, where he will be presented with charges and probably enter into a plea. He is not going to be handcuffed. A judge will then decide whether to release him on bail – he is expected to be released without bail. His fingerprints and mugshot will also be taken.
The former president responded with an attack on Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, saying the indictment amounted to “political persecution”. “I can’t get a fair trial in New York”, he wrote on Truth Social.
Democrats said if Trump broke the law, he should face charges like any American. Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer added: “There should be no outside political influence, intimidation or interference in the case. I encourage both Mr Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law.” California Democrat Adam Schiff said: “The indictment of a former president is unprecedented. But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged.”
Republicans across the country, including Trump’s potential rivals, criticised the indictment. House speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed that the House of Representatives “would hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account”. Mike Pence, a potential Trump rival for the presidential nomination, said the indictment sends a “terrible message” about the US justice system to the world. Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally, called it a “shocking and dangerous day for the rule of law in America”.
Stormy Daniels celebrated the news, saying: “I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond … also don’t want to spill my champagne.”
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who was expected to run against Trump for the Republican nomination, said his state would not assist in any extradition request for the former president.
Reports suggest Trump’s team was surprised by the timing of the announcement and was not expecting it on Thursday evening. Trump was in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, when it was announced.
All of New York’s police have been put on duty for Friday, with NBC quoting a police memo stating that the order applied to “all officers regardless of rank”. It reported that the memo instructed officers to be aware of “unusual disorder” duties.
Updated
Big day for Queens:
There is always a local angle https://t.co/yidE3rXHFb
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) March 31, 2023
Trump lawyer confirms ex-president expected to be arraigned on Tuesday
Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles has confirmed to Agence France-Presse that Trump is expected to be taken into court on Tuesday for an arraignment.
“At an arraignment, a defendant is presented with the charges and generally enters a plea,” AFP explains.
A judge then decides whether they should be released on bail or not. Trump is expected to be released without bail. There will be a mugshot.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner told USA Today:
There will still be a mug shot, fingerprints and lots of paperwork filled out as part of the booking process.
Updated
The former NYPD officer says: “What we really would like to see is for Trump to walk in and accept the indictment,” he says. If Trump chose to make a speech, that would be “more challenging”.
Ultimately it’s Donald Trump who determines if this thing shuts down or continues.
Analyst Douglas Brinkley says he thinks Trump will see it as a “reality show moment” and that because “all the cameras of the world” will be on Trump, which will make him get the most of it.
This is his Evel Knievel moment.
Updated
A former NYPD officer and a former Secret Service member are on CNN now, telling us what we might expect on Tuesday.
The Secret Service is not coordinating the optics, they are just there to protect the president. He will not be in handcuffs, a courtesy given because he is a former president, the former Secret Service member.
He says:
This will be the first time in Donald Trump’s life when he loses control, and that will be a humbling experience … the moment that happens, the moment someone is booked, you can see the change in that person.
Updated
Trump has also spent some of the last few hours calling key Capitol Hill allies, CNN reports, and has told them he will fight the charges. Among those he called were lawmakers who sit on the committees that are trying to investigate the Manhattan DA’s office, CNN reports, citing a senior GOP source familiar with the conversations.
Updated
Trump is using today’s news to – as Michael Cohen predicted – raise funds:
Trump now fundraising off indictment: pic.twitter.com/Gd6K5CZDzW
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) March 31, 2023
So far the Democrats seem to be repeating the message “Nobody is above the law”.
Booker said it in his statement, and Richard Blumenthal, a US senator for Connecticut, has just released a statement, saying:
No person is above the law – and violations should be pursued no matter how powerful the person is. A grand jury has reportedly decided to charge former President Trump after an intensive investigation lasting many months. Our justice system has an obligation to pursue the facts and law wherever they lead. Former President Trump will have the same rights as any criminal defendant and the justice system will presume him innocent until proven guilty.
On Fox news, the line is that this indicates “open warfare” on anyone, including other Republican candidates – that indicting Trump is just the beginning.
Updated
Democrat Cory Booker has released a statement on the indictment that seeks to address the idea that it doesn’t take much to indict someone – the Republican talking point repeated by Mike Pence earlier this evening that you could “indict a ham sandwich”:
This indictment isn’t a trivial matter. It means that a grand jury – an impartial group of citizens sworn by oath to perform their duties faithfully – has decided that there is enough evidence to charge former President Trump with committing a crime.
And like every person charged with a serious crime, the former president has due process rights. He will have an opportunity to defend himself in a court of law before a jury of his peers.
Updated
Here are some of the protesters – in support of and against Trump – who have come out this evening.
In Florida, a small group of about 20 people gathered near Mar-a-Lago, the New York Times reports.
New York also saw a small gathering:
Updated
The interview with Cohen has ended. Here are a couple of tomorrow’s front pages:
Guardian front page, Friday 31 March 2023: Trump indicted over 2016 payment to Stormy Daniels pic.twitter.com/Sj365ao7C8
— The Guardian (@guardian) March 30, 2023
A preview of Politico's special edition front page covering the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump👇
— POLITICO (@politico) March 31, 2023
Get the latest on this developing story: https://t.co/pF1eTkhRnx pic.twitter.com/ppIQpZrJVm
An ex-president indicted for alleged hush money payments to a porn star. A wealthy actor and wellness guru vindicated in a nail-biting fight for justice against a retired optometrist. And all in the space of a few hours.
Social media was quick to flood with users highlighting the remarkable timing of the verdicts. First came the supposedly untouchable Donald Trump, who was indicted by a New York grand jury over an alleged hush money payment made to the adult film actor Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Less than two hours later, in a Utah courtroom, a jury sided with Gwyneth Paltrow, finding her not at fault for a ski accident with Terry Sanderson at a posh mountain resort, and awarding her $1 in compensation.
Here is some of the best reaction on Twitter:
Cohen gives us his insight into what is going through Trump’s head at the moment.
He’s seething. To the world he wants to appear to have this thick skin, he is not thick-skinned … This is his biggest fear, that he will be mug-shotted, that he will have an F [for felon] next to his name. This is not what Trump imagined for himself.
Updated
Cohen, who has himself been indicted and has gone to prison twice, is asked what next week will look like. Cohen takes another swing at Trump.
He’s right now trying to play the tough guy … First of all the grifter in chief is going to do exactly what he’s being doing, which is to fundraise off of it.
He adds that he doesn’t want to see Trump “paraded”, because he is – at the end of the day – a former president of the United States and Cohen, who paid hush money to an adult film star to protect the reputation of a US presidential candidate, respects the office of the president.
It’s important to keep it “classy”, he says.
Updated
Asked if there were any more payments like the one made to Daniels, Cohen refuses to reply.
He doesn’t want to provide insights into what lies ahead for Trump, he says, because “I want him to enjoy it”.
Michael Cohen, who was acting as Trump’s fixer and lawyer and who was directed by Trump to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her silence, is on CNN right now.
Cohen directed a comment at Trump, looking at the camera and saying: “See you on Tuesday, pal.”
Tuesday is when Trump is expected to appear in court for his arraignment.
Cohen won’t reveal what he provided to the DA’s office for the investigation.
Updated
Bragg’s official biography describes him as a “son of Harlem” who became Manhattan district attorney after “a lifetime of hard work, courage and demanding justice”.
In obtaining the grand jury indictment against Donald Trump over his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels in 2016, the Democrat has now carved himself a place in history, as the man behind the first vote to criminally indict a former president.
Now 49, Bragg is a Harvard-educated former assistant New York state attorney general and assistant US attorney in the southern district of New York.
In 2021, he was elected as the first Black Manhattan DA and only the fourth permanent occupant of the post in 80 years:
The Manhattan DA’s office wanted Trump to surrender on Friday, but Trump’s lawyers “rebuffed the request, saying that the Secret Service, which provides security detail for the former president, needed more time to prepare”, Politico reports, citing an unnamed source but saying the exchange was confirmed by Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina.
Updated
The investigation was led by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who successfully prosecuted Trump’s business last year on tax-fraud charges, leading to a $1.61m criminal penalty.
The presiding judge in that case, New York supreme court justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee this case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Updated
Multiple news outlets are reporting that Trump faces about 30 counts.
The New York Times, citing people familiar with knowledge of the matter, said he faced more than two dozen counts, whereas CNN reports more than 30 counts, also citing two unnamed sources close to the case.
The indictment is still sealed, so we don’t have official confirmation of the number yet.
Updated
Trump: 'I cannot get a fair trial in New York'
Trump has responded to the indictment on Truth Social, posting: “They only brought this Fake, Corrupt, and Disgraceful Charge against me because I stand with the American People, and they know that I cannot get a fair trial in New York.”
Updated
Trump can still run for president if he is convicted
There are three things any person needs to be to run for president of the US:
A natural born citizen.
At least 35 years old.
A resident of the US for at least 14 years.
Trump’s indictment is unprecedented, but running for president from prison would not be. Eugene Debs, the Socialist Party of America’s presidential candidate in 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920, ran his last race POTUS race from prison. He did not win.
Updated
Schumer: 'Trump is subject to the same laws as every American'
Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has responded to the news, saying:
Mr Trump is subject to the same laws as every American. He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law. There should be no outside political influence, intimidation or interference in the case.
I encourage both Mr Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law.
Updated
All NYPD officers to be on duty on Friday – report
NYPD officers have been informed that they will all be on duty on Friday, according to a memo seen by NBC.
The memo, issued at 5.33 pm on Thursday, said the order applied to all officers regardless of rank. Officers should prepare for deployment, the memo says.
The memo also reminded officers to be familiar with department identification policies and “unusual disorder” duties.
Updated
Pence and Blitzer are talking about Biden’s response in Ukraine, so we’ll move on to other news for now.
Graham: 'shocking and dangerous day for rule of law'
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally, has released his response to the news.
He calls it a “shocking and dangerous day for the rule of law in America” and “one of the most irresponsible decisions in American history by any prosecutor”.
Graham says this will end with Trump winning in court and at the ballot box.
Last week, Graham responded to claims Trump’s arrest was imminent by saying, “The prosecutor in New York has done more to help Donald Trump get elected.”
Updated
Pence has dodged the question of whether Trump should drop out of the race if he is convicted – or if that should disqualify him from being the Republican nominee.
“I don’t want to talk about hypotheticals,” he tells Blitzer, and changes the topic to the way the “American people are struggling under the failed policies of the Biden administration at home and abroad”.
Blitzer asks Pence whether the indictment has any bearing on his support for Trump.
It does not, says Pence. He and his wife will continue travelling around the country and are deciding how best they might next contribute to US politics.
Analysts believe he is likely to run for president in 2024.
Updated
Pence says this appears to be “one more example of the two-tiered justice system” in the US.
Pence has been in various US cities over the last fortnight, he tells Wolf Blitzer, and “even though this has been in the news for the last two weeks, not one person raised this issue”.
It also sends a “terrible message” about the US justice system to the world, says Pence.
Updated
Former vice-president Mike Pence is on CNN now.
He says the indictment “appears for millions of Americans to be nothing more than political prosecution”.
Updated
Hi, my name is Helen Sullivan and I’m taking the reins on our rolling coverage of Trump’s indictment.
If you have questions, comments or see news you think we may have missed, the best place to get in touch with me is on Twitter here.
Summary
If you’re just tuning in, here’s where things stand:
A grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump in New York over a hush money payment made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
The former president will appear in court for his arraignment on Tuesday, several outlets have reported.
The president has responded with an attack on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, saying, the indictment amounted to “political persecution”.
This is the first time in US history a former president has faced a criminal indictment.
Republicans across the country, including Trump’s potential rivals, have criticized the indictment.
Reports suggest that Trump’s team was surprised by the timing of the announcement and not expecting it Thursday evening.
It is unclear whether Trump will be handcuffed when he surrenders, but he will be fingerprinted, photographed and processed for a felony arrest.
Updated
Stormy Daniels is celebrating news of the indictment, tweeting, “Thank you to everyone for your support and love! I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond … also don’t want to spill my champagne.”
Thank you to everyone for your support and love! I have so many messages coming in that I can't respond...also don't want to spill my champagne 😜 #Teamstormy merch/autograph orders are pouring in, too! Thank you for that as well but allow a few extra days for shipment.
— Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) March 30, 2023
The adult film star’s tweet comes hours after news broke that a grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump in New York over a hush money payment made to her during the 2016 election.
Daniels has said she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which the former president has denied. He has, however, admitted to directing Michael Cohen, then acting as his lawyer and fixer, to pay Daniels $130,000 to stay silent.
Updated
Donald Trump is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday, the former president’s lawyer Susan R Necheles has now said, the New York Times reports.
Republicans criticizing the indictment of Donald Trump this evening have repeatedly labeled Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg as a “George Soros-backed” prosecutor, referring to the billionaire philanthropist who conservatives often cite as an antisemitic dog whistle.
Donald Trump Jr, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pompeo, Eric Schmitt and other prominent Republicans have all cited Soros in their commentary. A recent New York Times fact-check pointed out that Bragg and Soros have never met, but also that the Democratic mega-donor did give money to a group that supports criminal justice reforms and progressive prosecutors, and supported Bragg in his 2021 election.
White nationalists, far-right groups and other conservatives have increasingly cited Soros in recent years as a “globalist” with outsized power, spreading antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories.
Trump and his supporters have also responded to the indictment with falsehoods and exaggerations about crime in New York, suggesting that the liberal prosecutor was ignoring violence in Manhattan while going after the former president. Trump’s son Eric Trump said this evening that “New York is being overrun by violence”, and the former president said earlier this month that crime was at a “RECORD LEVEL”. As a Poynter fact-check noted, those claims were demonstrably false and not backed by official crime data.
Updated
A spokesperson for Alvin Bragg’s office said in a statement that Donald Trump’s lawyer had been contacted “to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal”, the New York Times reports.
The former president’s lawyer has suggested he will surrender early next week.
Donald Trump’s potential GOP presidential campaign rivals have weighed in with statements criticizing the indictment, the AP reports.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis reiterated that his state would not assist in any extradition request for the former president, saying: “The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American.”
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who is also a potential 2024 presidential candidate, said it was a “dark day for America”, the AP reported. Hutchinson said Trump must be presumed innocent.
Mike Pompeo, Trump’s former secretary of state, mentioned the indictment in a fundraising email. He also said the indictment was “undermining America’s confidence in our legal system”.
Updated
Trump surrender expected early next week, lawyer says
Donald Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan district attorney’s office early next week, his attorney has told NBC News:
Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan DA’s office early next week, his attorney tells @NBCNews. https://t.co/plubLhFKK0
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 30, 2023
Updated
Trump expected to appear in court next week – reports
Donald Trump is expected to be arraigned some time next week, appearing in criminal court in New York to formally face the charges in this case.
There’s no official notification yet on exactly when the former president will surrender to the authorities and appear in court.
As a reminder, tonight’s news of the indictment came as a shock in the moment because, after so much build up and expectation that he was going to be indicted in recent weeks, there had been word that the grand jury was not yet ready to vote on criminal charges after all.
But late afternoon today, the news came out, via the New York Times, that the grand jury had voted to indict and filed the indictment under seal in New York.
A number of outlets are now reporting that Trump will surrender to the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, early next week.
Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis just told CNN that the indictment is not a surprise, but the timing was, in the end.
Updated
Indictment is unprecedented
The indictment of Donald Trump, the former president and current presidential candidate, on criminal charges related to his hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, is historic.
No former president has ever been criminally indicted. We are waiting for details to emerge and for reactions from Trump or his legal team.
Daniels says she had a short affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies that.
Trump also denies wrongdoing, despite admitting reimbursing the $130,000 payment made by his then lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, as election day approached in late 2016.
Trump claims to have been a victim of extortion, and says, via lawyers, he initially lied, saying he knew nothing of the payment, because it involved a non-disclosure agreement.
News of the Daniels payment broke in early 2018, when Trump was president. Cohen later pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, contributing to a three-year custodial sentence.
We do not yet know what the charges are, the indictment, voted for by a grand jury late this afternoon in New York, is under seal. The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is in charge of this criminal case but we have not heard from him yet today.
Charges are likely to relate to falsification of business records, it’s unknown yet whether charges will be misdemeanors or a felony, if an additional crime is alleged, such as campaign finance violation.
Updated
Prominent House Democrat Adam Schiff, who was the lead impeachment manager when Donald Trump was prosecuted in Congress in 2020 over his politically corrupt and extortionate dealings with Ukraine, has weighed on the unprecedented indictment of a US president, current or former.
The California congressman said: “A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office.”
Here’s the full tweet:
The indictment of a former president is unprecedented.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) March 30, 2023
But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged.
A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office.
Especially when they do.
To do otherwise is not democracy.
From the other side of the aisle, US Senator Ted Cruz, rightwinger of Texas, said: “The Democrat party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds.”
Updated
Donald Trump is saying he is “completely innocent”. This is from a statement the former president has put out in the wake of the news that a grand jury in New York has voted to indict him on criminal charges related to reimbursement of hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election campaign.
Full statement pic.twitter.com/Y62m7S8Mmx
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 30, 2023
Trump attorney Alina Habba has said Trump is a victim of a corrupt and distorted version of the American justice system and history. He will be vindicated.
Stormy Daniels’s attorney Clark Brewster said Trump’s indictment is “no cause for joy, let truth and justice prevail”, Reuters reported.
The House of Representatives’ No 2 Republican Steve Scalise is calling the indictment a sham.
The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) March 30, 2023
Outrageous.
Updated
Trump claims indictment is "political persecution and election interference".
Donald Trump has put out a statement slamming his criminal indictment by a grand jury in New York.
TRUMP reacts in statement: “This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history”
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 30, 2023
Trump further said in the statement that “ever since I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower [referring to his announcement in New York in 2016 of his candidacy for president], 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 American Great Again movement”.
There’s more, we’ll bring it to you in a moment.
Updated
Donald Trump previously said he would continue campaigning for the Republican party’s nomination even if charged with a crime.
The specific charges are not yet known and the indictment will likely be announced in the coming days, the New York Times reported and Reuters writes.
Trump will have to travel to Manhattan for fingerprinting and other processing at that point.
Susan Necheles, a lawyer representing Trump, said she was informed of the indictment but did not know when he would surrender. A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the indictment.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, who is in charge of this case, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump, 76, sought re-election in 2020 but was defeated by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump has falsely claimed he lost to Biden due to widespread voting fraud and has called the investigation that led to his indictment a “political witch hunt.”
Bragg’s office last year won the criminal conviction of Trump’s real estate company for fraud, but Trump himself was not charged.
The Manhattan investigation is one of several legal challenges facing Trump, and the charges could hurt his presidential comeback attempt.
Some 44% of Republicans said he should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.
Michael Cohen has said Trump directed hush payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had a sexual relationship with him. Trump has denied having affairs with either woman.
Federal prosecutors examined the Daniels payoff in 2018, leading to a prison sentence for Cohen but no charges against Trump.
As a reminder: No former or sitting US president has ever faced criminal charges. Trump also faces two criminal investigations by a special counsel appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland and one by a local prosecutor in Georgia.
Updated
Here’s a great irony, given Trump’s love-hate relationship with the media. The former president learned about the indictment from the New York Times, according to my Guardian colleague Hugo Lowell.
New: Trump team learned about the Manhattan hush money indictment from NY Times — his team had not yet been informed when the news broke
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) March 30, 2023
Here’s CNN’s Jeff Zeleny.
Former President Donald Trump was caught off guard by the grand jury’s decision to indict him, a person who spoke to him tells me. “Is this a shock today? Hell yes,” I'm told. Trump is poised to release a statement soon.
— Jeff Zeleny (@jeffzeleny) March 30, 2023
"No one is above the law": Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer
Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer who ended up turning against his former boss, serving time in prison in relation to the Daniels case and testifying in front of this grand jury in New York, has issued a statement.
“This is the first time a president of the United States, current or former, has been indicted. I take no pride in issuing this statement and I would also like to 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, even a former president. Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter but rather just the beginning.
“Now that these 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 are that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided to the district attorney in New York.”
Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 late in to the 2016 election campaign, to keep quiet about her account that she had sex with Trump in 2006, which Trump denies. Cohen was subsequently reimbursed by Trump, which was followed by allegations that this was not properly treated as a campaign expenditure and broke the law.
Updated
A lawyer for Donald Trump says the former president has been informed that he’s been indicted in New York on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
This is a jolt to Trump’s bid to retake the White House in 2024, the Associated Press reports.
The grand jury in New York’s indictment of Trump, 76, is an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings. It is likely to galvanize critics who say Trump lied and cheated his way to the top and embolden his base of devoted voters who believe the Republican former president and current candidate is being unfairly targeted by a Democratic prosecutor (who took over this case from a predecessor Democratic prosecutor).
But there is no doubt that almost everyone has been blindsided by tonight’s development after it was understood that the grand jury was not ready to vote yet on an indictment.
Updated
Donald Trump and his legal team were reportedly not given advance warning that an indictment was coming down.
But they have now been informed of the decision, the Associated Press has confirmed.
We have not heard yet from the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, whose office is in charge of that case.
A lawyer for Trump said moments ago that the former president has now been told that he’s been indicted. It has not been made public what the charges are or whether such charges will be of misdemeanor or felony status. The grand jury will have filed the indictment under seal.
Observers believe this has taken the president’s team, at least in the moment, by surprise, where they are gathered at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Updated
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the indictment of Donald Trump, the former president and current presidential candidate, on criminal charges related to his hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It is a historic move. No former president has ever been criminally indicted. We are waiting for details to emerge and for reactions from Trump or his legal team.
Daniels says she had a short sexual affair with Trump in 2006. Trump denies that.
Trump also denies wrongdoing, despite admitting reimbursing the $130,000 payment made by his then lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, as election day approached in late 2016.
Trump claims to have been a victim of extortion, and says, via lawyers, he initially lied, saying he knew nothing of the payment, because it involved a non-disclosure agreement.
News of the Daniels payment broke in early 2018, when Trump was president. Cohen later pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, contributing to a three-year custodial sentence.
Trump faces wide-ranging legal jeopardy, also including investigations of his election subversion at federal and state levels, a civil suit over his business affairs in New York and a defamation trial arising from a rape allegation by the writer E Jean Carroll.
He denies all wrongdoing. In the Manhattan hush money case, as in the investigation of his election subversion in Georgia, where an indictment is thought to be imminent, Trump claims to be the victim of prosecutorial racism.
According to Mark Pomerantz, a New York prosecutor who worked under Bragg, as the Manhattan DA continued an investigation begun by his predecessor, the Daniels payment came to be seen as a “zombie case” that simply would not die.
It has now risen to bite Trump, potentially roiling the race for the Republican nomination to face Joe Biden at the polls next year.
Stay with us for rolling coverage.
Updated
