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New York (AFP) \u2013 A New York grand jury on Thursday indicted Donald Trump over hush money payments made to a porn star, making him the first ever serving or former US president to face criminal charges.<\/p>\n
The historic indictment of the 76-year-old Republican \u2014 who denies all wrongdoing in connection with the payments made ahead of the 2016 election that sent him to the White House \u2014 is certain to upend the current presidential race in which Trump hopes to regain office.<\/p>\n
And it will forever mark the legacy of the former leader, who survived two impeachments and had kept prosecutors at bay over everything from the US Capitol riot to missing classified files \u2014 only to land in court over a sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels, a 44-year-old adult movie actress.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in Manhattan will likely ask Trump to surrender and face arraignment, with the felony charges against him to be revealed at that hearing, according to The New York Times, which cited four people with knowledge of the matter.<\/p>\n
Trump slammed the indictment as \u201cpolitical persecution and election interference,\u201d and vowed it would backfire on his successor Joe Biden, while the former president\u2019s son Eric assailed the \u201copportunistic targeting of a political opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n
An attorney for Daniels meanwhile welcomed the news as proof that \u201cno one is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe indictment of Donald Trump is no cause for joy,\u201d Clark Brewster tweeted. \u201cNow let truth and justice prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, said the indictment had \u201cirreparably damaged\u201d the country.<\/p>\n
On March 18, Trump had declared he expected to be arrested within days over the payment to Daniels \u2014 who received $130,000 weeks before the election that brought Trump to power, to stop her from going public about a tryst she claims they had a decade earlier.<\/p>\n
In predicting his indictment, Trump had issued a call for demonstrations and dark warnings that it could lead to \u201cpotential death & destruction\u201d that \u201ccould be catastrophic for our Country.\u201d<\/p>\n
His statement set New York on edge for possible protests but the prospect of a quick indictment had receded as the grand jury panel convened to weigh possible charges against Trump continued to hear witnesses \u2014 until Thursday.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who has testified before the grand jury, told Congress in 2019 that he made the payment to Daniels on Trump\u2019s behalf and was later reimbursed.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors argued the checks were not properly registered, and the jury was asked to consider if the suspect accounting was part of a cover-up, intended to benefit Trump\u2019s election campaign by burying the scandal.<\/p>\n
The New York investigation is the first to reach a decision on charges out of three major probes into the former president.<\/p>\n