Donald Trump indictment: Ex-US president to be charged over hush money
Donald Trump, a former US president, will face charges related to payments made to a porn performer right before the 2016 election.
His accusation’s specifics have not yet been made public.After looking into a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in an effort to purchase her silence about an alleged affair, a grand jury decided to prosecute him.
Trump, 76, says he did nothing wrong. He is the first sitting or past president of the US to be accused of a crime. The investigation’s lead prosecutor, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, acknowledged that his office had gotten in touch with Mr. Trump’s lawyer to “coordinate his surrender” on unnamed allegations.
The ex-president, who lives in Florida, is expected to fly to New York on Monday and be arraigned in court on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
The hearing is scheduled to last roughly 10-15 minutes, and the counts in the indictment will be read to him during that time.
Security for the court appearance will be handled by the US Secret Service, which is responsible for guarding current and previous US presidents.
Stormy Daniels, an actress of adult films, approached media agencies in 2016 and offered to sell them her account of what she claimed to be an adulterous liaison she had with Donald Trump in 2006, the year after he wed Melania.
When Mr. Trump’s team learned of this, his attorney Michael Cohen paid Ms. Daniels $130,000 to be silent. There is no crime here.
However, when Mr Trump reimbursed his lawyer, the record for the payment says it was for legal fees. Prosecutors say this amounts to Mr Trump falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanour – a criminal offence – in New York.
Prosecutors could also potentially allege that this breaks election law, because his attempt to hide his payments to Ms Daniels were motivated by not wanting voters to know he had an affair with her.
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