Trump is the first ex-president in US history to face criminal charges. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has announced indictments against the Republican, who is running for president again in the November 2024 election. The case in New York is about hush money payments to a porn actress – and a possible conflict with campaign financing rules. The background at a glance.
Shortly before his election as president in 2016, Trump paid hush money to porn actress and director Stormy Daniels. She had claimed she had sex with him. Trump denies an affair, but not that money flowed. The payment itself is not illegal. According to the media, however, Trump is accused of having incorrectly billed them and falsifying business documents. He may have violated campaign finance laws.
The District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan published the indictment against Trump last Thursday. The accused must appear in person at the indictment hearing in Manhattan. Around 30 charges are said to be brought against him – none has been officially announced so far.
According to consistent media reports, the date for the indictment reading is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. (local time; 8:15 p.m. CEST) on Tuesday. For this appointment, the once most powerful man in the state is likely to be briefly detained so that fingerprints and police photos can be taken of him. Whether these photos are actually taken is an open question. The accused are often handcuffed – whether this will happen in Trump’s case is just as questionable.
This will all happen behind closed doors. The responsible judge refused a video transmission from the court, but five photographers will be able to take photos at the beginning of the indictment reading.
In all likelihood, Trump will plead “not guilty” when the indictment is read out. Trump has so far rejected all allegations of a politically motivated “witch hunt” intended to prevent his victory in the 2024 presidential election. It is considered certain that Trump can return home after the procedure. This is also what the ex-president is planning: He wants to give a speech on Tuesday evening at 8:15 p.m. (local time; 2:15 a.m. CEST on Wednesday night) at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The New York case is more than onerous for Trump and could one day end up in a jail cell once all legal remedies have been exhausted. However, an indictment or conviction does not disqualify him – at least legally – from running for the presidency.
However, Trump still has a number of other legal construction sites. These include, for example, the investigations of a special investigator into his handling of secret government documents. Some legal experts believe that if convicted in this matter, Trump could no longer become president. US media only reported on Monday that investigators had collected new evidence such as notes and photos.
Due to the historic event, there was a real state of emergency on some streets in downtown New York. The night before the indictment, people were queuing in front of the courthouse in south Manhattan to get into the courtroom. Barriers were erected around the building, media representatives from all over the world set up their cameras:
Radical Republican MP Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most well-known and outspoken conspiracy theorists in the US House, wants to protest outside the door during the court hearing. The storming of the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021 has led some New Yorkers to fear that there could also be chaos and rioting in the liberal east coast metropolis. Mayor Eric Adams warned protesters against becoming violent as a precaution.
