A grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump in a hush money payment case. Trump becomes the first United States former president to be faced with criminal charges.

Former president Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on criminal charges, as The Guardian mentions in this article. The indictment was publicly announced by Joe Tacopina, one of Trump’s lawyers, on Thursday, March 30. Sources mention that the indictment decision is linked to a “$130,000 hush money payment” to Stormy Daniels, according to CNBC.

Photo Credits: Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

The story goes back to 2016, when the then-Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels, an adult films actress, $130,000 to stop her from publicly speaking about her alleged brief romantic encounter with the former president, as CNN writes here.

Photo Credits: Rick Friedman/Polaris via Newscom, FILE

Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-attorney, who served time in prison for the case, went public with some statements on the indictment decision. “This is the first time a president of the United States, current or former, has been indicted. I take no pride in issuing this statement and I would also like to remind everyone of the presumption of innocence, as provided by the due process clause.” he said. “However, I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law, even a former president. Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter but rather just the beginning.” he continued, as The Guardian wrote in this article.

The Guardian also notes that Donald Trump found out about the jury’s decision from the New York Times.

Photo Credits: Twitter / @hugolowell

“New: Trump team learned about the Manhattan hush money indictment from NY Times — his team had not yet been informed when the news broke”, CNN Hugo Lowell wrote on Twitter.

The ex president’s reaction came shortly after the decision went public. “This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history”, he wrote in a statement as seen in this Twitter thread.

Published by HOLR Magazine.