Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on unspecified criminal charges by a New York grand jury, marking the first time a former president has been charged criminally. Trump's attorneys, Joseph Tacopina and Susan Necheles, confirmed the indictment, stating that he did not commit any crime and that they will fight the "political persecution" in court. The charges are believed to be related to hush money payments made to two women who claimed to have had sex with Trump. The payments were publicly revealed after his election in 2016 and further details were revealed during his time in the White House.
Trump has called the charges "political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history" and threatened that there would be "potential death & destruction" if charges were filed against him. He has also stated that he will not quit the 2024 presidential race if indicted.
The grand jury's vote to formally accuse someone of a crime is called an "indictment", and a grand jury can also vote to dismiss charges or accuse the person of a lesser offense. In the state of New York, a grand jury decides whether or not a person should be formally charged with a crime or other offense. Grand juries work in secret and only hear evidence from prosecution, with no judge present in the proceeding.
Trump's legal troubles are not limited to the New York case, as he faces legal jeopardy in several jurisdictions. His companies, Trump Corp. and the Trump Payroll Corp., were convicted in December of criminal tax fraud and fined a combined $1.6 million. Additionally, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia is considering a range of potential charges, including election fraud, false statements, and racketeering. A federal special counsel, Jack Smith, is investigating Trump's role in interfering with the peaceful transfer of power to President Joe Biden and the unauthorized retention of classified documents at his Florida estate.
The White House has not commented on Trump's indictment, and allies of Trump are denouncing the charges as an effort to stop him from being reelected. Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer and a key witness in the grand jury investigation, said that Trump's indictment is only the beginning of a new chapter in his legal saga. Presidential historian Matt Dallek believes that the indictment marks an inflection point in American democracy, testing the system of equal justice under the law as perhaps no other case in recent history.