Donald Trump, the former president of the US and current candidate to get his old job back, has been indicted.
In the first criminal indictment of a current or former US president, a grand jury in Manhattan, the city Trump used to call home, voted to indict him.
There are many details yet to come.
The indictment remains under seal, although we know that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had been investigating Trump's role in trying to cover up hush-money payments made to a former adult-film actress who said in 2016 that she and Trump had an affair. Trump has denied the affair.
Bragg will now reach out to Trump to discuss his surrender to authorities. He will be fingerprinted, photographed and arraigned just like any other person.
But this will not be just like any other case. Trump's surrender will be overseen by the Secret Service, which CNN has already reported has had talks with New York officials about how the process will work.
We're unlikely to see the mug shot, which is protected under New York law.
But the case is sure to captivate a country divided around Trump and its future.
What's more incredible is this might not be the only criminal case he faces this year. Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, have conducted a yearslong inquiry into his role in trying to overturn 2020 election results there.
Federal prosecutors are in the midst of yearslong inquiries into his involvement in the January 6, 2021, insurrection and his treatment of classified documents.
He also faces a civil suit launched by the New York attorney general for tax avoidance.
But this probe, with the adult-film actress, the hush-money and the rest of it, may be the most fitting first act in what could prove to be a series of charges for the man who used to command attention in New York tabloid gossip columns before his unlikely ascent to the White House.
Read the latest CNN reporting on Trump.
And tune in to CNN for live coverage.
No comments:
Post a Comment