Former President Donald Trump’s indictment by a New York grand jury has thrust the nation into uncharted political, legal, and historical waters, and raised a slew of questions about how the criminal case will unfold.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has been investigating Trump in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star Stormy Daniels that dates to the 2016 presidential election.
Though the indictment – which has been filed under seal – has yet to be unveiled, Trump and his allies have already torn into Bragg and the grand jury’s decision, blasting it as “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”
Here’s what we know about Trump’s indictment so far.
What’s the indictment for?
Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in the indictment, CNN has reported. It remains under seal.
The former president is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court next Tuesday, around 2:15 p.m. ET, two sources with knowledge of the matter tell CNN.
The investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office began when Trump was still in the White House and relates to a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s then-personal attorney Michael Cohen to Daniels in late October 2016, days before the 2016 presidential election, to silence her from going public about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair.
Which charges are possibly at play?
A target in the probe has been the payment made to Daniels and the Trump Organization’s reimbursement to Cohen.
According to court filings when Cohen faced federal criminal charges, Trump Org. executives authorized payments to him totaling $420,000 to cover his original $130,000 payment and tax liabilities and reward him with a bonus. The company noted the reimbursements as a legal expense in its internal books. Trump has denied knowledge of the payment.
Hush money payments aren’t illegal. Ahead of the indictment, prosecutors were weighing whether to charge Trump with falsifying the business records of the Trump Organization for how it reflected the reimbursement of the payment to Cohen, who said he advanced the money to Daniels. Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor in New York.
Prosecutors were also weighing whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records in the first degree for falsifying a record with the intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal another crime, which in this case could be a violation of campaign finance laws. That is a Class E felony and carries a sentence of a minimum of one year and as much as four years. To prove the case, prosecutors would need to show Trump intended to commit a crime.
The People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump
The judge overseeing the case against Trump signed off on an order Thursday granting Bragg’s request to publicly disclose the sealed grand jury indictment.
Atop the order is the case name: The People of the State of New York against Donald J. Trump.
Judge Juan Merchan wrote in the order that the disclosure would be “in the public interest and an appropriate exercise of this Court’s discretion,” according to the document.
How did Trump respond?
Trump was caught off guard by the grand jury’s decision to indict him, according to a person who spoke directly with him. While the former president was bracing for an indictment last week, he began to believe news reports that a potential indictment was weeks – or more – away.