Newsman: Donald Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges. He has been indicted by a New York grand jury Thursday. No former president in US history had been criminally charged. He was also the first president to be impeached twice.
Donald Trump (76) is set to appear in court in New York at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. The unprecedented indictment represents the first criminal charges against a former U.S. president. Former President Trump has Secret Service protection, so agents would need to be by his side at all times.
The exact charges remain unknown since the indictment will not be unsealed until Trump appears in court on Tuesday. The case has been focused on his role in the $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Donald Trump, a Republican, has denied any wrongdoing and denounced the investigation as a “scam,” a “persecution,” an injustice and a political low blow aimed at damaging his 2024 presidential run.
Donald Trump’s lawyer said Friday that the former president will surrender to New York authorities, but he won’t consider a plea deal after his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury investigating a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Donald Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s office, but the former President’s lawyer Joe Tacopina Tacopina said that no precise date had been set for it. Ultimately the Secret Service will have to coordinate the conditions of the surrender with court officials and the New York Police Department. Trump’s Lawyer Joe Tacopina Tacopina responded local Media after the Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump in a case related to his hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Daniels has alleged that the two had an affair which Trump sought to keep private during the 2016 campaign.
Meanwhile all NYPD officers were deployed across the city in uniform Friday morning according to ABC News. Barriers and blast protectors have been in front of Trump Tower for a week and on Friday all 35,000 members of the NYPD were required to show up.The NYPD was gearing up in preparation for any unrest.
The NYPD, US Secret Service, US Marshals and New York State Court Officers will meet Friday to coordinate next week’s surrender of former President Trump, ABC News reports.
Representatives from the agencies will also conduct a walkthrough of the criminal courts building, known colloquially by its address, 100 Centre Street.
Prosecutors in New York investigated money paid to porn actor Stormy Daniels and ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep the women from going public with claims that they had sex with him.
Trump lawyer Joseph Tacopina said during TV interviews Friday he would “very aggressively” challenge the legal validity of the Manhattan grand jury indictment.
“President Trump will not take a plea deal in this case. It’s not going to happen. There’s no crime,” Tacopina said.
At the federal level, a Justice Department-appointed special counsel also is investigating Trump’s efforts to unravel the national election results. Additionally, the special counsel is examining how and why Trump held onto a cache of top secret government documents at his Florida club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, and whether the ex-president or his representatives tried to obstruct the probe into those documents.
