The Bulwark – Why Trump’s Hush Money Matters. It was the currency of secret and illegal schemes to deceive voters…There is no question that these deals were illegally made. We know this because the men who set them up have admitted their guilt, and further admitted to having done so to assist Trump’s campaign.
AP: “A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter, the first ever criminal case against a former U.S. president and a jolt to Trump’s bid to retake the White House in 2024.
The indictment, confirmed Thursday by Joe Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, and other people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss sealed criminal charges, is an extraordinary development after years of investigations into his business, political and personal dealings. It is likely to galvanize critics who say Trump lied and cheated his way to the top and embolden supporters who feel the Republican is being unfairly targeted by a Democratic prosecutor…
In bringing the charges, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is embracing an unusual case that had been investigated by two previous sets of prosecutors, both of which declined to take the politically explosive step of seeking Trump’s indictment…”
- See also Lawfare – Former President Trump Indicted. Major media outletsare reporting that a state grand jury in New York has issued a sealed indictment of former President Donald J. Trump. The indictment is under seal,the New York Times reports, and the story is sourced to “five people with knowledge of the matter.” The AP sources its reporting on the indictmentto “Trump’s lawyer.”
- See also CBS News Timeline: Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels and the $130,000 payment to buy her silence
- See also The New York Times – Donald Trump Is Indicted in New York: Live Updates [free access]. Mr. Trump will be the first former president to face criminal charges. The precise charges are not yet known, but the case is focused on a hush-money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign.
- See also The New York Times – News Analysis – A President Faces Prosecution, and a Democracy Is Tested For more than two centuries, American presidents were effectively shielded from indictment. But the case against former President Donald J. Trump breaks that taboo and sets a new precedent.
- See also Court House News – Indictment filed in NY makes Trump first US president to face criminal charges. The indictment of Donald Trump in his home state ramps up one of several criminal investigations facing the former president in the early days of his 2024 campaign.