Former PresidentDonald Trumphas reportedly been indicted more than six years after he allegedly paid hush money to adult film starStormy Danielswhile he was the presidential candidate in 2016.A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump on Thursday, according toThe New York Times,CNNandABC Newssources. The official indictment is expected to be announced within days, perThe Times.Trump, 76, is now the first sitting or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.News ofTrump’s alleged affairwith Danielssurfaced in 2018, when theWall Street Journalreported that Trumparranged a $130,000 paymentto the ex-porn star a month before the 2016 election so she’d keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter they’d had years earlier.Gary Gershoff/Getty; Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty.While Trump and his longtime lawyerMichael Coheninitially denied the claims of an affair, Cohen later admitted that there was a payment made to the porn star.Calling it “a private transaction,“Cohen toldThe New York Timesthat he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in 2016. He said Trump had not reimbursed him.Trump has since admitted he authorized the $130,000 payment, but has continued to deny the underlying claims that the two had an affair or that the payment was in any way connected to his campaign.Donald Trump.Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesOn Truth Social after the news broke, Trump repeated many of his prior claims regarding the case, calling it “political persecution and election interference” and again accusing his political opponents of “a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.“The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office began presenting evidence to a grand jury in the case in January, with formerNational Enquirerpublisher David Pecker among the witnesses who were seen entering the grand jury building over the course of the investigation.The company that publishes theEnquireradmitted in late 2018that it helped broker “catch and kill” deals with Daniels and other women, in which it paid the women hush money for their stories, effectively silencing them ahead of the 2016 election.In a 2018 statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York said the publisher “admitted that it made the $150,000 payment in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate” and that “its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.“The district attorney’s office previously invited Trump to testify before the grand jury as part of its investigation into his alleged role in the hush money payment.Daniels and Cohenboth met with prosecutorsearlier this month, the AP reported. And on March 20, Cohen’s former legal adviser Robert Costello met with the grand jury, perCNN.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, spoke with CNBC earlier this month, as reports about an imminent arrest began to mount, and said that Trump wouldsurrender to face criminal charges, should he be indicted."[He] will follow normal procedures if it gets to that point,” Tacopina told the outlet.
Former PresidentDonald Trumphas reportedly been indicted more than six years after he allegedly paid hush money to adult film starStormy Danielswhile he was the presidential candidate in 2016.
A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump on Thursday, according toThe New York Times,CNNandABC Newssources. The official indictment is expected to be announced within days, perThe Times.
Trump, 76, is now the first sitting or former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges.
News ofTrump’s alleged affairwith Danielssurfaced in 2018, when theWall Street Journalreported that Trumparranged a $130,000 paymentto the ex-porn star a month before the 2016 election so she’d keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter they’d had years earlier.
Gary Gershoff/Getty; Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty.
While Trump and his longtime lawyerMichael Coheninitially denied the claims of an affair, Cohen later admitted that there was a payment made to the porn star.
Calling it “a private transaction,“Cohen toldThe New York Timesthat he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket in 2016. He said Trump had not reimbursed him.
Trump has since admitted he authorized the $130,000 payment, but has continued to deny the underlying claims that the two had an affair or that the payment was in any way connected to his campaign.
Donald Trump.Joe Raedle/Getty Images
On Truth Social after the news broke, Trump repeated many of his prior claims regarding the case, calling it “political persecution and election interference” and again accusing his political opponents of “a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office began presenting evidence to a grand jury in the case in January, with formerNational Enquirerpublisher David Pecker among the witnesses who were seen entering the grand jury building over the course of the investigation.
The company that publishes theEnquireradmitted in late 2018that it helped broker “catch and kill” deals with Daniels and other women, in which it paid the women hush money for their stories, effectively silencing them ahead of the 2016 election.
In a 2018 statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York said the publisher “admitted that it made the $150,000 payment in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate” and that “its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.”
The district attorney’s office previously invited Trump to testify before the grand jury as part of its investigation into his alleged role in the hush money payment.
Daniels and Cohenboth met with prosecutorsearlier this month, the AP reported. And on March 20, Cohen’s former legal adviser Robert Costello met with the grand jury, perCNN.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Trump’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, spoke with CNBC earlier this month, as reports about an imminent arrest began to mount, and said that Trump wouldsurrender to face criminal charges, should he be indicted.
“[He] will follow normal procedures if it gets to that point,” Tacopina told the outlet.
source: people.com
