Former president Donald Trump claimed to be the victim of a politically motivated prosecution after he became the first-ever former US president to face a criminal indictment.
A New York City grand jury indicted the twice-impeached ex-president on charges of falsifying business records stemming from payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from revealing an affair he had with her before the 2016 election.
A source told The Independent that grand jurors voted to indict the ex-president on Thursday, and that indictment is currently under seal. It will be unveiled at some point in the near future by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Mr Trump reacted to the new case against him in a poorly-spelled post on his Truth Social website, writing: “These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican Candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President”.
Switching to all uppercase letters, he added: “THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. IT IS LIKEWISE A CONTINUING ATTACK ON OUR ONCE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS. THE USA IS NOW A THIRD WORLD NATION, A NATION IN SERIOUS DECLINE. SO SAD!”
In a separate statement, Mr Trump called the case against him “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history” and claimed it is the latest in a series of efforts by “radical left Democrats” to destroy him and his far-right political movement.
“You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this. The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ’Get Trump, but now they’ve done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference,” he said.
He also accused Democrats of “weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President” and accused Mr Bragg, who is a Democrat, of “doing Joe Biden’s dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on”.
