Trump indicted by N.Y. grand jury, first ex-president charged with crime - The Washington Post
Category: News & Politics
Via: jbb • last year • 54 commentsBy: Shayna Jacobs, Mark Berman, Jacqueline Alemany and Josh Dawsey (Washington Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A historic indictment with significant legal and political consequences
By Shayna Jacobs, Mark Berman, Jacqueline Alemany and Josh DawseyUpdated March 30, 2023 at 6:19 p.m. EDT|Published March 30, 2023 at 5:36 p.m. EDTListen5 min Comment on this storyComment Gift Article Share
A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former president Donald Trump, his lawyers said on Thursday, making him the first person in U.S. history to serve as commander in chief and then be charged with a crime.
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The grand jury had been hearing evidence about hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, allegedly to keep her from saying she'd had a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier.
The indictment has yet to be unsealed, so the charges and specific allegations were not immediately clear, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his investigative team were probing whether Trump falsified business records connected to the payments in a way that could constitute a campaign-finance violation.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago Thursday afternoon when news of the indictment broke. How or when Trump would be brought to court in New York to answer the charges was not immediately clear. But security will be a concern, given that he has a significant Secret Service detail as a former president — a novel issue in a historic case.
Arrest warrants are typically issued automatically when an indictment is filed against a defendant who has not been previously charged in a criminal complaint. In this case, the indictment was filed behind closed doors at the lower Manhattan courthouse after the clerk's office was closed for the day.
Read the latest reaction to the indictment of Donald Trump
Trump, who has long railed against law enforcement officials, particularly when it comes to investigation of his conduct, quickly issued a statement condemning the indictment. Democrats, he charged, "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. Never before in our Nation's history has this been done."
Trump vowed to rally his fellow Republicans to defeat Bragg, an elected Democrat. "And then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office," he said.
The former president, who is seeking to return to the White House in 2024 and leading in most polls of Republican voters, is also the focus of criminal probes in Georgia and Washington, related to his efforts to overturn President Biden's 2020 election victory and his handling of classified material at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home and private club.
He has repeatedly denied all wrongdoing and maintained that those investigating him were making politically motivated accusations — a posture that energizes the most loyal segments of his base, even as some more mainstream Republicans have expressed interest in finding a new party standard-bearer.
Bragg's investigation appears to have focused on $130,000 paid by former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who has said he fronted the money involved in the Daniels transactions to ensure her silence ahead of the 2016 election, and was later reimbursed by Trump. The reimbursement payments were erroneously classified as legal fees, previous investigations have found.
Cohen served time in prison after pleading guilty in two federal criminal cases — including one that involved campaign finance violations related to Daniels and another woman who alleged an affair with Trump. He also pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, and his credibility has been attacked by Trump's defenders, which could undermine his strength as a witness.
Bragg's office already has won a conviction against Trump's family business, successfully prosecuting the Trump Organization on tax fraud and related counts at a criminal trial in New York Supreme Court late last year. In that proceeding, longtime Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg testified against the Trump family's company under a plea agreement that called for him to serve five months in prison in exchange for his assistance at the trial. He had been facing up to 15 years in prison after dodging taxes on $1.7 million in income.
Press Enter to skip to end of carousel Ongoing investigations involving Donald Trump Donald Trump is facing historic legal scrutiny for a former president, under investigation by the Justice Department, district attorneys in Manhattan and Fulton County, Ga., and a state attorney general. He denies wrongdoing. Here is a list of the key investigations and where they stand. Justice Department criminal probe of Jan. 6 The Justice Department is investigating the Jan. 6 riot and whether Trump or his aides may have conspired to obstruct the formal certification in Congress of the election result or committed fraud to block the peaceful transfer of power. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith to oversee both this and the Mar-a-Lago investigation. Mar-a-Lago documents investigation FBI agents found more than 100 classified documents during a search of Trump's residence at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Aug. 8 as part of a criminal probe into possible mishandling of classified information. A grand jury is hearing witness testimony as prosecutors weigh their next steps. Georgia election results investigation Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis (D) is investigating whether Trump and his allies illegally meddled in the 2020 election in Georgia. A Georgia judge on Feb. 15 released parts of a report produced by a special-purpose grand jury, and authorities who are privy to the report will decide whether to ask a new grand jury to vote on criminal charges. Manhattan district attorney's investigation District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) convened a grand jury to evaluate business-related matters involving Trump, including his alleged role in making hush-money payments to the adult-film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Trump was recently offered a chance to appear before the grand jury, a sign the probe was nearly finished. Lawsuit over Trump business practices in New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) filed a lawsuit Sept. 21 against Trump, three of his children and the Trump Organization, accusing them of flagrantly manipulating the valuations of their properties to get better terms on loans and insurance policies, and to get tax breaks. The litigation is pending.
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As a result of the December conviction, the Trump Organization was ordered to pay a $1.6 million fine to the state, the largest amount allowable under New York law. Trump was not charged in the case.
The district attorney's investigation of Trump began in 2019, under Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr.. It resulted in a Supreme Court legal battle over access to Trump's tax returns and associated records, which were ultimately turned over to Vance's office.
At the start of Bragg's tenure in 2022, he declined a push by senior prosecutors to ask a previous grand jury to indict Trump for defrauding lenders and insurance companies by lying about the true value of his properties and other assets. Bragg said at the time that his office would continue to investigate the former president, and a fresh roster of lawyers got involved in the case.
Vance had earlier considered pursuing charges against Trump related to Daniels. But his office ruled that out as a viable option and moved onto other matters, including the Trump Organization's tax practices and asset valuations.
Federal prosecutors also declined to prosecute Trump in connection with the Daniels payments, even though they did charge Cohen.
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He begging for it...
I read it's a felony indictment for trump. gee, allen weisselberg suddenly dumps his trump lawyers and is scheduled to be released from prison in 20 days. .... and is again facing arrest for his part in the accounting of the porn star payoffs. one has to wonder how much of this political drama would be taking place today if tricky dick had been tried and sent to prison 50 years ago...
Trump has been deserving of prosecution for his whole life.
His daddy's money was the only thing that protected him.
Now that he has run every one of his 'businesses' into the ground..........
The only thing that keeps him solvent are donations from the brain dead.
If he's such a successful businessman why does he beg for donations daily?
Could it be that all he has ever been is grifter and a conman?
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Do you think Trump should cut a deal to plead guilty to misdemeanors and agree to never run for president again to get a pass on his coming felony indictments?
Misdemeanors? Assuming there are any?
No fucking way.
Well said, Tessylo.
One of the members of my fan club has arrived.
It's a happy day for me!
I'm going to be fully employed soon after almost four months of unemployment.
The turd has FINALLY been indicted on something and I do hope indeed that it breaks the log jam and the dominoes will start falling. I hope they indict him on all the 3 (I believe) indictments that remain against him.
I don't know why I'm telling YOU this but since you showed up on this happy day for me I thought I'd start spreading the news here!
Thanks for the introduction! Or was it an invitation?
that was actually funny
"I'm going to be fully employed soon "
Good for you! Hope it ts something you like and pays a lot
Oh happy day
[ DELEted ]
Thanks charger! I was looking for you a little while ago and was going to send you a private message.
I really appreciate that. It's a decent wage at 35 hours a week (full time in my book) with great hours - 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
I didn't want to wind up in fast food at my age (turned 60 in October) and I didn't. I took a little time and found something that I think will work out for me just fine.
Thread 2.0 was cleaned up for meta.
I wonder how he could even be indicted. Paying hush money is not illegal anywhere not even New York. But I guess when your a democrat prosecuted in a democrat state you can make up laws as you go along.
It's how it was done, no that it WAS done.
You reap what you sow.
When your top witnesses are a porn star; and a former lawyer convicted of perjury that told his defense team he would "say anything to stay out of prison"; but couldn't seem to come up with anything on Trump- you know you have already lost. No matter what some TDS NY driven leftist judge and jury says.
Also, states/cities cannot charge someone with a federal crime. The Federal prosecutors already gave this charge a pass at several levels.
Bragg is a POS DA; who should have been shit canned long ago. He loves letting real criminals walk; and charging victims. He will bend to any pressure if it gets great enough- which is why we are at this point. One of his former assistants wrote a book and blasted Bragg for no pressing charges. Bragg succumbed to pressure from Democrats, media, and the sheeple that elected him.
he broke a number of laws by paying off stormy before the election. he needs to be held accountable for each.
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The FEC; DOJ, Bragg's predecessor, and even Bragg when he took office gave it a pass on indicting. But suddenly Bragg has a change of heart after a tell all book is published by one of the former investigative lawyers working under him?
Also the statue of limitation has run out already. But what is that where Trump is concerned?
If only Hillary and Bill were held to the same standards for their payoffs to Bill's indiscretions. But they were merely fined for a much larger offense. Even Hillary was only fined for mislabeling campaign funds for the bogus Steele Dossier (legal fees- yeah right).
Democrats have set new lows for the legal system. I am sure Republicans are taking notes and planning revenge indictments against their political Democrat enemies. Brandon, Bill/Hillary, and Barack had better get ready for their legal fees to explode.
I'm thinking that the Stormy thingy is the least of Trump's legal issues.
This is just the warm-up show.
Trump will finally pay (not as much as he deserves) for a life of crime.
I agree, trump already has a busy court appearance calendar for april.
He won't likely attend pretrial hearings and may not be back in April at all.
It’s really an accounting case. It’s not as if Trump didn’t already have the money to pay off his girlfriends.
... it's multiple levels of fraud.
How is that? Who was defrauded?
Anybody and everybody that ever had any dealings with Trump, his businesses or his family.
Who was defrauded?
Anybody who believes that he cares about anybody but himself.
Trump is the epitome of a conman. He has fooled half a country.
yeah, the christo-fascist, xenophobic, racist half...
And now it begins. The MAGA will attack the law. And the law will simply do it's duty.
As far as Trump. His scowl and angry demeanor will reveal his vacuous soul. Justice, watch your back. The unhinged still roam free.
Let’s be honest; this is not the thing anyone honestly wants Trump indicted over. A campaign finance violation to silence mistresses he had before he was even president? Seriously, who cares?
Also, seven years to indict for this? Lame and sketchy.
don't forget that trump was basically untouchable for 5 of those years.
Yeah, I guess that’s a fair point. Two years isn’t as bad 6 or 7. It still seems like a straightforward thing that could have been handled a long time ago. Summer of 2016, for that matter - before he was president.
It’s just very weak stuff. It’s not the kind of thing that will activate the 14th Amendment and keep him out of office. It’s a bit like nailing Al Capone for tax evasion. Yeah, it’s a crime, but it’s not why he’s a bad guy. It’s the kind of thing lots of politicians get caught up in. They usually end up paying a fine.
Stormy Daniels wasnt paid off until October.
That's still before he was president or even elected for that matter.
that's usually when FEC and campaign finance laws get broken...
No sir - they're allowed to handle cases within their jurisdiction, i.e. local, state - NOT FEDERAL.
Bragg is outta his realm of responsibility and authority as he is only authorized cases pertaining to Manhattan - not NYC, NY, nor Fed.
Thanks, too much misinformation here on NT.
No. They can prosecute state or local law only.
Thanks, I was trying to be gentle with 5.1.4
I'm still waiting to see the actual indictment. Fairly sure that these campaign finance violations are not the province of the State of New York and the FEC and the Feds already passed on this prosecution. Not sure how far this will actually go other than to increase his support among his base (which I hate to see).
It does seem like not only a reach, but a politically motivated one, at that. You want be able to do these things in a way that doesn’t look like the state abusing its power.
it will be hilarious if bragg got allen weisselberg to flip, since he's now facing another stretch in prison.
i thought he had flipped
there seems to be some questions regarding the status of his current legal representation now.
It is said that even a ham sandwich can be indicted. Since this abuse of the legal system is driven for partisan political reasons, it is not even certain that it will actually go to trial. If it does go to trial, it is even less likely to result in a unanimous verdict against Trump. Once again, I think the far left radicals have overreached and will end up with egg on their face.
Yes. That's always the first thing that comes to mind.
You have absolutely no evidence that this is the case. You may suspect it is and if true then we'll find out soon enough. To just dismiss this out of hand is irrational. Bragg would lose everything and could be sued into oblivion if he doesn't have a case.
The burden of proof is on the prosecution. Trump will try to delay the trial as long as he can and make as much politically out it as he can. Once they start the case I expect it difficult to find a jury, but then both side will be brought up to account.
Or far right radicals will end up with egg on their face shown to protect a criminal - one of those two things will surely happen. I won't jump to conclusions.
The fact you were even able to type this line proves your bias. There is only one party that coddles criminals. Bragg is the very definition if a leftist POS DA that has a piss poor conviction record; lowers felony charges down to misdemeanors; and charges victims. I can post links to each if you like. Some are pretty famous.
Unfortunately Bragg is as subject to outside pressure from media, leftists, and Democrats as he is being a POS DA.