History Made: Donald J. Trump indicted

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By Steve Schuster

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The wheels of justice may turn slowly at times, but yes, they still turn. On Thursday, former President Donald Trump made history being the first U.S. president to ever be indicted.

On Thursday, a Manhattan Grand Jury made the decision to indict Trump, according to a statement from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” a Spokesperson for District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in a written statement.

In response, Trump posted to Truth Social a long statement including saying that this is “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”

According to The New York Times, Trump is expected to turn himself in on Tuesday “probably travel to New York from his home in Florida.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who may be running against Trump in 2024, said he “will not assist” New York with an extradition request from Florida in a Fox News report.

A conviction in this case would not legally prevent Trump from continuing to run for President, the Times reported.

Due to the fact that the indict is still under seal, it not known what Trump is being charged with, however, The New York Times speculated that Bragg could use state laws to accuse Trump of falsifying business records.

As previously reported by the Wisconsin Law Journal, Trump said that he was going to be arrested on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 and called his supporters to take to the street and protest.

The indictment was related to a case being handled by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The case stems from his alleged $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress. The alleged payment occurred in the days ahead of the 2016 election to allegedly silence her about claims she’d had an affair with him.

As previously reported, a powdery substance was found last week with a threatening letter in a mailroom at the offices of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.  New York City police and environmental protection officials isolated and removed the suspicious letter, and testing “determined there was no dangerous substance,” Bragg spokesperson Danielle Filson said. The substance was sent to a city lab for further examination, police said.

The letter said, “Alvin, I am going to kill you,” according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about an ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity, the Associated Press reported. 

Republican members of Congress sent Bragg a letter demanding that the District Attorney’s office provide them with communications, documents and testimony about his inquiry. In response, Bragg said, this was “an inappropriate attempt by Congress to impede a local prosecution.”

Questions remain how much of an impact the indictment will have the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This story has been updated.