Former President Donald Trump could become the first president in history to be indicted for his payment of hush money given to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Before the 2016 presidential election, then-candidate Trump had attorney Michael Cohen make nearly $130,000 in hush money payments to silence Daniels. Daniels was preparing to come forward about an affair she allegedly had with Trump in 2006.
Trump would go on to win the 2016 election and, during his time in the White House, reimburse Cohen for the payments. However, Cohen had claimed there was a “retainer agreement” between him and the president in 2017, despite there being no such agreement. Trump had paid with multiple hand-signed checks, and under New York state law, Trump had falsified legal documents.
In 2019, Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to lying before Congress on behalf of the former president. Since his testimonial, Cohen has become a vocal critic of Trump, even publishing several books about the case and his time working for the president. In January, the Manhattan district attorney began its case and brought it before the 23-person grand jury, and Cohen was a prime witness in the case.
Other witnesses called to testify before the grand jury included former Trump advisers Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks.
On March 18, Trump made several posts to his social media platform TruthSocial, with one claiming that he would be arrested. As the post read, “Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.” He then finished the post with “Protest, take our nation back!”
The post immediately drew attention from supporters as well as media outlets, which directed all eyes toward the New York grand jury and District Attorney Alvin Bragg. However, once Tuesday had come, the grand jury did not convene, nor would they the following day. On Thursday, they did not discuss the Trump case and are only expected to continue discussion on March 27.
It is still unclear if Donald Trump will be indicted, but many speculate that the court decision is inevitable. If indicted, he would become the first president in American history to technically be arrested; however, there has been no signs that this will affect his 2024 presidential run. He held his first campaign rally in Waco, Texas, on Saturday.
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