Former President Trump Is Indicted

A Manhattan grand jury voted late Thursday to indict former President Donald J. Trump for his alleged role in paying hush money during his successful 2016 run for the White House to a woman who claims to have had an affair with him. It’s the first time an American president—current or former—has faced criminal charges, and the legal proceedings could upend the 2024 presidential race in which Trump is a leading contender.

The indictment is currently under seal. Trump is expected to appear in a New York City courtroom next week for his arraignment. The specific charges against Trump will likely be made public at that time, if not earlier.

In a statement issued Thursday night, Trump called the indictment a “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history.” More than a week ago, Trump declared on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he would soon face charges and called for people to protest.

While the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, who convened the grand jury, didn’t comment immediately, many Democrats voiced support for the judicial process. 

“A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office. Especially when they do," tweeted Democratic Representative Adam Schiff of California. "To do otherwise is not democracy."

An indictment is a formal accusation against someone suspected of committing a serious crime. An indictment is issued after the conclusion of a grand jury investigation. Prosecutors convene a grand jury to determine whether the evidence collected by investigators is sufficient to file charges. Grand juries, made up of 16 to 23 members of the public, meet behind closed doors. They hear evidence presented by prosecutors and testimony by witnesses before voting on whether there’s enough evidence to charge a person with a crime. Unlike a regular trial jury, which must issue a decision unanimously in most cases, only 12 grand jurors must agree to issue an indictment.

An indictment isn’t the same thing as a conviction. A grand jury isn’t trying to decide whether someone is guilty of a crime, only whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant a trial. 

The indictment of the former president underscored how divided the nation remains politically, even in matters such as the law. Many Republican lawmakers have rallied around Trump, calling the investigation a political attack with little legal merit. “The unprecedented indictment of a former president of the United States on a campaign finance issue is an outrage,” former Vice President Mike Pence told CNN. Democrats, on the other hand, emphasized that former presidents should be subject to the same laws and legal processes as everyone else. “No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence,” Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker, posted on Twitter. 

The New York case isn’t the only legal threat hanging over Trump as he tries to regain the White House after his defeat in the 2020 election. In Georgia, the Fulton County District Attorney is investigating whether then-President Trump interfered in that election when he called Governor Brian Kemp in December 2020 and asked him to urge the state legislature to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state. In a call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger that was recorded by Raffensperger’s office and later released to the public, Trump asked him to “find 11,780 votes”—the number he needed to win the state’s electoral votes. Prosecutors in Georgia have indicated that a decision on whether to charge Trump will come soon.  

And at the federal level, a special counsel is examining Trump’s effort to overturn the election results, as well as his handling of classified documents after he left office.

The Manhattan inquiry, which has spanned nearly five years, centers on a $130,000 payment to an adult film actress who says she had an affair with Trump, which the former president denies. The payment, intended to keep the story from going public, was made in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign by Michael Cohen, Trump’s then-personal lawyer, who was later reimbursed by Trump from the White House. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and criminal tax evasion and served a little more than a year in prison, and he’s now a chief witness for the prosecution in the current probe.

Historians are watching how the indictment plays out since no president has faced a criminal prosecution and the legal system has entered uncharted territory. Justice Department policy maintains that sitting presidents can’t be indicted, but the Framers explicitly contemplated the prospect of charging presidents once they’ve left office. A president impeached by the House and convicted and removed from office by the Senate “shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law,” Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution declares.

“Whether the indictment is warranted or not, it crosses a huge line in American politics and American legal history,” says Jack L. Goldsmith, a Harvard University law professor and former top Justice Department official under President George W. Bush. 

Although Trump has now been indicted, legal experts say that doesn’t mean a conviction is necessarily likely. The case against the former president could hinge on an untested and therefore risky legal theory involving a complex interplay of laws, all amounting to a low-level felony. If Trump were ultimately convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of four years in prison, though prison time wouldn’t be mandatory.

Some political analysts said Trump’s legal challenges might benefit him politically in the short term if Republican voters rally around him. Trump announced his bid for the presidency in November.

With reporting by The New York Times