TRUMP TAKEN IN BUT IT IS BACK FIRING ALREADY!

Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, his attorneys announced on Thursday, making him the first former American president to be charged with a crime and upending his campaign to win the White House in 2019.Show more

The allegations revolve on payments made to bury allegations of an illicit sex encounter during the 2016 presidential campaign. After years of inquiries into Trump's economic, political, and personal dealings, they represent an astounding development.

The indictment brings in criminal proceedings in a city that the former president for decades called home and thrusts a local district attorney's office into the middle of a national presidential election. The accusations, which come at a time of intense political division, are likely to reinforce rather than reshape the opposing viewpoints of those who believe that accountability is long overdue and those who, like Trump, believe that the Republican is being singled out by a Democratic prosecutor for political reasons.

Trump, who has constantly criticized the inquiry and denied any wrongdoing, termed the charge "political persecution" and predicted it will hurt Democrats in the year 2024. Defense attorneys Susan Necheles and Joe Tacopina said in a statement announcing the accusations that Trump "did not commit any crime. In court, we will vigorously contest this political prosecution.

The case focused on well-documented allegations from a time in 2016 when Trump's desire to run for office and his background as a celebrity intersected. Authorities looked closely at the money given to Stormy Daniels, a porn star, and Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, whom he feared might come forward with charges that they had extramarital affairs with him.

According to a person familiar with the situation who was not permitted to speak publicly about an issue that was still under seal, Trump was anticipated to turn himself in to authorities next week, though the specifics were still being worked out.

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Live outside the New York District Attorney's Office after Donald Trump's indictment

Following news reports that criminal charges were most likely weeks away, the timing of the indictment appeared to surprise Trump campaign insiders. On Thursday, the former president was at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where he had earlier in the day recorded an interview with a conservative commentator.

The indictment delivers yet another unprecedented spectacle for a guy whose administration was defined by one broken rule after another. It will be necessary for a former president, who is also a current candidate, to defend both his political future and his freedom while also fending off potentially more dangerous legal threats, such as inquiries into his and his allies' alleged attempts to rig the 2020 election as well as their alleged hoarding of hundreds of classified documents.

In fact, until recently, New York was not considered a probable candidate to bring charges against Trump in the first instance. Trump is still the subject of ongoing investigations that could result in charges in Atlanta and Washington. The Manhattan case, in contrast to those investigations, focuses on actions taken by Trump before he was elected president and has nothing to do with the widely publicized attempts to rig the election.

The indictment sets the stage for an unprecedented scene — a former president being fingerprinted and having his mug shot taken, then facing arraignment and possibly a criminal trial. This is happening as he attempts to reassert control of the Republican Party and fend off a number of former allies who are seeking or are likely to challenge him for the presidential nomination. His booking is anticipated to be meticulously planned for security purposes to prevent crowds inside or outside the courthouse.

Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, is filing the charges after two earlier teams of prosecutors looked into the unusual case but decided against taking the politically risky step of seeking Trump's prosecution.

Trump, who is seeking to reclaim control of the Republican Party, has been doing so in the weeks before the indictment. tightened security outside the Manhattan criminal courts after he vented about the inquiry on social media and urged followers to protest on his behalf.

Until news spread in early March that Bragg had asked Trump to testify before a grand jury, a sign that prosecutors were near to filing charges, the future of the hush-money investigation was uncertain.

Although Trump's lawyers declined the offer, a lawyer with deep ties to the former president briefly testified in an effort to cast doubt on Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer.

Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump ten years prior after meeting him at a celebrity golf tournament. Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 late in the 2016 presidential campaign to keep quiet about the alleged incident.

The Trump Organization, which is run by Trump, subsequently paid Cohen back, along with incentives and additional payments that were internally recorded as legal costs. Cohen said that the firm gave him $420,000 over a period of time.

In a method known as "catch-and-kill" journalism, earlier in 2016 Cohen also made arrangements for the National Enquirer's publisher to pay Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to kill her tale of a Trump affair.

The payments to the women were made with the intention of buying confidentiality, but they quickly backfired when information about the contracts got to the media.

2018 saw the formal filing of criminal charges against Cohen by federal prosecutors in New York, who claimed that the payments amounted to illegal support for Trump's campaign. In addition to the relevant tax evasion convictions, Cohen also admitted guilt and was sentenced to time in federal prison.

Trump was allegedly aware of the plans, according to court documents, but U.S. prosecutors declined to charge him at the time. It has long been the position of the Justice Department that it would probably be unlawful to bring a case against a sitting president in federal court.

Cyrus Vance Jr., Bragg's predecessor as district attorney, began the probe in 2019. While the initial focus of that investigation was the hush money payments, Vance's prosecutors expanded their emphasis to include an investigation of Trump's business operations and tax planning.

In the end, Vance filed a tax fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer over the fringe perks given to some of the business' top executives.

The hush money case became known as the "zombie case" within the D.A.'s office as prosecutors periodically reviewed it without choosing to file charges.

Bragg took a different stance. Once the Trump Organization was found guilty of tax fraud in December, he gave the old case new life by appointing seasoned white-collar prosecutor Matthew Colangelo to lead the investigation and calling a new grand jury.

By meeting with prosecutors almost two dozen times, providing emails, recordings, and other evidence, and testifying before the grand jury, Cohen emerged as a crucial witness.

The Manhattan investigation has long been criticized by Trump as "the greatest witch hunt in history," and he has also criticized Bragg, accusing the prosecutor, who is Black, of being prejudiced toward white people.

The criminal accusations in New York are the most recent shot in a serious rift between Trump and his hometown; they represent a comeuppance for the once-beloved son who became rich and famous by building buildings, mixing with celebrities, and making headlines in the local gossip magazines.

In a borough where more than 75% of voters—many of them potential jurors—voted against him in the previous election, Trump—who famously joked in 2016 that he "could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody" and "wouldn't lose voters," now faces a threat to his liberty or at the very least, his reputation.

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