Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday over hush-money payments made ahead of the 2016 elections — marking the first-ever criminal case against a former US president.
The sealed indictment was filed with the clerk’s office in Manhattan Supreme Court in lower Manhattan Thursday evening, sources told The Post. The specific charges were not made public, but sources said Trump is facing over two dozen counts related to business fraud.
CNN reported, citing two sources, that Trump is facing over 30 counts connected to business fraud.
The unprecedented indictment comes as Trump, 76, is attempting to regain the White House for a third time, running for the 2024 Republican nomination. It follows a five-year investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into Trump and his business dealings — a probe that Republicans have blasted as a politically motivated crusade.
“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.
His attorneys, Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina, told The Post that Trump “did not commit any crime” and vowed to “vigorously fight this political prosecution in court.”
A spokesperson for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg confirmed the indictment and said the office had contacted Trump’s team to arrange his surrender.
The indictment will be unsealed at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court, which is also expected to take place Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers and a court administrator said.
Trump was in Florida when the indictment came down and was reportedly caught off guard by it.
His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he spoke to Trump after he was indicted and the ex-president was “shocked.”
At Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the mood Thursday night was “very somber,” insiders told The Post. “Reality has settled in with a thud,” a source said.
