Former US president Donald Trump has been indicted by a New York Grand Jury, over charges relating to payments made as ‘hush money’ during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The indictment was delivered on Thursday and he is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday next week.
The payments were allegedly made to Stormy Daniels – an adult film actress who claimed that she and Trump had had a brief sexual fling some years earlier – to buy her silence about the matter during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump denounced the indictment as ‘political persecution and election interference’ aa he seeks nomination as the Republic party’s candidate for President. He has received some support in the matter from other prominent Republicans, including the popular governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and Kevin McCarthy, the leading Republican in the House of Representatives.
Trump’s erstwhile Vice President, Mike Pence, said that this indictment would ‘serve to divide’ the country.
Members of the Democratic Party were supportive, with Adam Schiff, who had led the first attempt to impeach Trump in 2019, described the matter as ‘a sobering and unprecedented development.’
‘The indictment and arrest of a former president is unique throughout all of American history. But so too is the unlawful conduct for which Trump has been charged,’ said Schiff.
Trump also faces investigations over electoral interference in Georgia and the riot that took place on January 6 2021 at the Capitol building in Washington.
The political fallout of the issue could be profound. John Bolton, onetime National Security Advisor to Trump who subsequently fell out with him, told CNN that if the case is unsuccessful, it could give Trump the impetus to prevail in the 2024 election.
[Image: Grégory ROOSE from Pixabay]