Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury on allegations he gave money to adult film star Stormy Daniels
The indictment marks the first time in US history that a current or former president has faced criminal charges. Trump has long raged against the impending legal action and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who presented evidence to the grand jury. He has denied any wrongdoing and maintained the case is politically-motivated.
“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” Trump said in a statement. “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.”
Bragg, however, did not indict Trump. The grand jury did so after considering evidence presented by the district attorney’s office and determining there was reasonable cause for the ex-president to face charges and be put on trial.
Bragg’s office reportedly invited Trump to testify before the grand jury earlier this month, in a sign that an indictment was likely to be returned. But the former president declined to do so.
The payments were made by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a raft of charges related to his work for Trump, including payments to two women who alleged extramarital affairs with Trump, including Daniels. Former Playboy model Karen McDougal was the other woman.
Cohen has since served as a witness against the ex-president and said he takes “solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former president.”
CURRENTPH NEWS SERVICE
