Former President Donald Trump has been criminally indicted by a New York City grand jury that he had praised only a day earlier.
Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said that the former president had been indicted Thursday by the grand jury on charges related to 2016 hush money payments to adult-film star Stormy Daniels, according to the Associated Press. The exact charges were unclear at the time of publication.
Trump, who has declared his candidacy in the 2024 presidential election, becomes the the first-ever former U.S. president to face a criminal indictment. He is also facing potential criminal charges in Georgia’s Fulton County and at the federal level.
On Wednesday, the former president celebrated the grand jury seemingly going silent in recent days. Trump said that he had “gained such respect” for the panel, claiming that it was putting a “witch hunt” by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on “hold” just one day before jury members decided to indict him.
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“I have gained such respect for this grand jury, & perhaps even the grand jury system as a whole,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The evidence is so overwhelming in my favor, & so ridiculously bad for the highly partisan & hateful district attorney.”
“The grand jury is saying, hold on, we are not a rubber stamp, which most grand juries are branded as being,” he continued. “We are not going to vote against a preponderance of evidence or against large numbers of legal scholars all saying there is no case here. Drop this sick witch hunt, now!”
Newsweek has reached out via email to the office of Trump for comment.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
