Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury

A New York grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump, the former “Apprentice” star who also served as president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.

The allegations stem from Trump paying adult film actress and director Stormy Daniels a six-figure sum for a one-night stand he had with her in 2006 when his wife, Melania, was pregnant with their only child, Barron.

The specific charges were not known at press time. On the afternoon of March 30 on MSNBC, former Mueller counsel Andrew Weissmann said he expected at least one felony indictment.

Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, arranged for Daniels to receive a $130,000 check in 2016 to keep news of their meeting from the public while the reality TV star was in the clubhouse launching a successful presidential bid. . But when Daniels disclosed the hush money payment in early 2018, it embroiled the presidency in controversy: The Trump campaign labeled the $130,000 as “legal fees” and that it came directly from Cohen, not Trump. Prosecutors refer to mistaken identity as money laundering.

Cohen served one year of a three-year federal prison sentence and paid a $50,000 fine before being released in May 2020. Proving that Trump directed Cohen to engage in these money-laundering tactics was a more difficult and time-consuming matter.

Trump faces several other criminal investigations. These include an investigation by the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, into whether the former president interfered in the election and pressured Georgia state election officials to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

It is also possible that the Department of Justice will pursue incitement charges against Trump for his role in the January 6, 2021 uprising, as revealed by a House Select Committee on January 6. Author E. Jean Carroll’s claim that Trump sexually assaulted her at the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman in Manhattan in the mid-1990s is also being explored.

And, of course, there’s the ongoing FBI investigation into the former president taking classified documents to his Palm Beach country club, Mar-a-Lago.

Maggie Haberman of The New York Times told CNN that the indictment came as a surprise to the Trump camp, as it was believed that a grand jury would not be convened for some time. On March 18, Trump posted on his Truth Social social media platform that he was expected to be arrested on March 21.

It is not known whether the allegations against Trump could support his announced 2024 presidential bid. The images showing the “perp walk” may symbolize the persecution of the former president by his followers. He currently leads all polls of GOP voters in preference for the GOP nominee.

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