A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump for payments that he allegedly made during his 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an adulterous act, his lawyers said Thursday, according to The Boston Globe.
Trump’s indictment creates the first criminal case against a former U.S. president and interrupts his bid to run for presidency.
Trump has rejected the claims repeatedly. According to the Globe, his lawyers said in a statement, “He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.”
In a statement Trump posted to Truth Social, his social media platform, he stated, “This is political prosecution and election interference at the highest level in history.”
The Globe reported that the hush money payments being investigated were made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump is also undergoing other investigations involving tampering with Georgia’s 2020 election vote count, a U.S. Justice Department special counsel investigating classified documents that Trump had in his Florida home and attempting to reverse his loss in an election, the Globe reported.
