By Caitlyn Meisner | Copy Editor
Former President Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury Thursday and will face criminal charges. He is the first president in history to do so.
A grand jury in New York has been hearing evidence in an investigation on Trump’s connection to hush money payments to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels.
The payments were made during his first bid for the Oval Office in 2016. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, pleaded guilty and told authorities he made the payments at Trump’s directive. Cohen was in prison until May 2020 and served part of his sentence on house arrest.
The indictment is sealed, so specific charges against Trump are not publicly available. The New York Times reported there are more than two dozen counts on the felony indictment.
Following this indictment, Trump will have to travel to New York and be arraigned in a Manhattan district courthouse. This means he will have to surrender himself to the state of New York; he is expected to do so April 4.
At this stage, Trump can still run for president while under indictment or if he is convicted of a crime. There is no consensus on whether this will harm or benefit his campaign at this time.
On Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, he made several comments on the indictment. He said Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is a disgrace and “doing Joe Biden’s dirty work.”
“Our Movement, and our Party — united and strong — will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden,” Trump said via his campaign website. “We are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Many Republican politicians came in droves to support Trump on Twitter and Truth Social. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would not work with New York to extradite Trump.
Since the indictment was filed in New York, Trump must be in the state to be arrested. He is currently in his West Palm Beach, Fla., home, Mar-a-Lago.
“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” DeSantis said. “It is un-American.”
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said this indictment is “completely unprecedented” on Twitter.
“The Democrat Party’s hatred for Trump knows no bounds,” Cruz said. “The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (CA-20) said Bragg has irreparably damaged the United States.
“The American people will not tolerate this injustice,” McCarthy said. “The House of Representatives will hold Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”
Congressman Ronny Jackson (TX-13) said the indictment is not just an attack on Trump, but on all of his supporters.
“The hateful Deep State wants this country to BURN,” Jackson said. “We’re not going to back down. We will NEVER stop supporting Trump!!”
Several Democrat politicians also commented on the indictment, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (NY).
“Mr. Trump is subject to the same laws as every American,” Schumer said on Twitter. “He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law.”
San Antonio junior Caroline Carney said this situation is a partisan weaponization of the courts. She said this could help his campaign, as Trump “thrives” off of conflict.
“[He] likes being the underdog and likes to be viewed as the victor and taking hits for the average American,” Carney said.
Carney also said this indictment and conversation about a sex scandal is potentially a weapon Democrats are using to hurt Trump’s base of conservative Christians.
“I think they’re picking and choosing financial crimes that paint him in a disfavorable light, specifically to the conservative Christian vote,” Carney said. “I don’t think the DA’s office was thinking, ‘How can we threaten the Christian vote?’ But more so, ‘How can we weaken the entire Trump base?'”
Plano junior Emily Kolb said she was surprised this is the first time an indictment has been brought against the former president.
“There are just a million things that he’s done that have been so shady, so under the rug that I’m surprised this was the first time,” Kolb said.
This is an ongoing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
