Donald Trump indictment by NY grand jury

Vivek Ramaswamy, a long-shot Republican presidential hopeful, called Trump’s indictment “un-American.”

“The politically motivated indictment of the 45th President of the United States marks a dark moment in American history,” Ramaswamy said in a statement. “It is un-American for the ruling party to use police power to arrest its political rivals.”

“I pray for our national unity,” the investor and former biopharmaceutical executive said.

— Rohan Goswami

Former President Donald Trump will be read his Miranda rights, fingerprinted and pose for a mug shot once he surrenders to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office following his indictment by a New York grand jury.

Trump’s attorney is already in touch with prosecutors and expects him to be arraigned next week, according to NBC News.

After Trump’s arraignment and appearance before a judge, there will be pre-trial hearings where the defense could move to dismiss the charges that have yet to be unsealed against the former president. Trump would then file a plea, which could eventually lead to a trial.

— Brian Schwartz

Former President Donald Trump and his allies are turning their attacks yet again on billionaire Democratic megadonor George Soros and falsely claiming he has direct ties to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, after Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury.

“Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace,” Trump said on Thursday in response to the indictment.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said on his podcast “Apparently, Soros-backed Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is indicting my father.”

CNBC’s previous reporting found there are no real direct ties between Soros and Bragg. Many Democrats and outside experts have called the attacks on Soros, who is Jewish, dangerous and anti-semitic.

An advisor for Soros, who is a longtime target for Republicans, told CNBC that Soros “has never met or spoken to Alvin Bragg.”

The criticism appears to stem from donations Soros and a nonprofit funded by him made to the national racial justice group Color of Change, which backed Bragg’s DA campaign and later pressured him on a prosecution unrelated to Trump.

Yet, there are even problems making a direct connection between that Soros donation and Bragg.

Those familiar with the contributions said that the money the billionaire and his organization gave to Color of Change was not earmarked to back Bragg’s campaign, or intended to be used in an effort to pressure the DA.

— Brian Schwartz

Reporters could be seen gathering outside the Manhattan courthouse where a grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump. CNBC producer Harriet Taylor tweeted out this video.

— Riya Bhattacharjee

Former President Trump called the indictment of him an attack on the U.S. — among other exaggerated or false claims he has made about the implications of a charge against him in recent days.

“These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED [sic] the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican Candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President,” Trump wrote in a post on Trump Media and Technology Group’s Truth Social platform. In an all-caps update, he called the charge “an attack on our country the likes of which has never been seen before.”

Trump must post on Truth Social six hours before sharing messages on other social networks, according to an agreement set to expire in June.

In a Wednesday update on Truth Social, Trump expressed praise for the grand jury assessing the case. The all-caps post said he had “gained such respect for this grand jury & perhaps even the grand jury system as a whole.”

— Jordan Novet

The Manhattan district attorney’s office got in touch with Trump’s attorney to arrange his surrender and arraignment on an indictment that “remains under seal,” a spokesperson for the office said.

“Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” the spokesperson added.

Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told NBC News that the former president is expected to surrender early next week.

— Jacob Pramuk

Michael Cohen, Trump’s onetime fixer and disbarred attorney, decided to speak “truth to power and accept the consequences,” his attorney Lanny Davis said in a statement.

“I am proud to have been his lawyer and his friend through this long journey,” Davis said of Cohen.

Cohen was the conduit for Trump’s $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, part of an effort to cover up the former president’s alleged extramarital affair with Daniels.

— Rohan Goswami

Rev. Al Sharpton torched Trump for apparent hypocrisy, contrasting the former president’s vehement condemnation of the Central Park 5 with Trump’s response to his own legal battles.

“It’s not lost on those of us who were there in 1989 that Donald Trump will likely walk into the same courthouse where the Exonerated 5 were falsely convicted for a crime they did not commit,” Sharpton said in a statement. “Let’s not forget that it was Donald Trump who took out full-page ads calling for these five Black and Brown young men to get the death penalty.”

“This is the same man who’s now calling for violence when he has to go through the same system,” the reverend continued. “All I can say is, what goes around comes around.”

The five teenagers were wrongly accused and convicted of rape, and exonerated years later.

— Rohan Goswami

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy slammed the Manhattan district attorney, saying on Twitter that Bragg had “irreparably damaged” the U.S., and that “the American people will not tolerate this injustice.”

McCarthy said that “the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account.”

Even before a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump, House Republicans had started to flex their committee power to seek information from Bragg about the probe.

— Rohan Goswami

Trump will surrender to the Manhattan DA’s office early next week, his attorney Joe Tacopina told NBC News.

The unprecedented indictment of a former president means that after he surrenders, Trump will be read his Miranda rights, fingerprinted, and photographed — like any other defendant.

— Rohan Goswami

Taylor Budowich, CEO of the political-action committee Make America Great Again Inc., used the indictment as an opportunity to look ahead to the 2024 presidential election.

“This is not an indictment of a crime—there was no crime—instead, this news is the indictment of a failed nation,” Budowich said in a statement. “President Trump is promising to peacefully end the war in Ukraine, dismantle the deep state, and save our country by putting America first. For that, the political elites and powerbrokers have weaponized government to try and stop him. They will fail. He will be re-elected in the greatest landslide in American history, and together we will all Make America Great Again.”

— Jordan Novet

Donald Trump could face potentially even more serious criminal charges beyond the Manhattan district attorney’s case against him.

His alleged attempts to meddle in election results in Georgia are the subject of a criminal probe in that state.

Meanwhile, a federal special counsel, Jack Smith, is investigating Trump over his removal of classified documents from the White House as well as his ties to the bloody Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Fueled by Trump’s false claims of election fraud, hundreds of his supporters stormed the building that day in a bid to prevent lawmakers from confirming Joe Biden’s victory.

–Mike Calia

Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Clark Brewster, said the indictment of Trump was “no cause for joy.” Daniels, a former adult film actress, sits close to the heart of the Manhattan district attorney’s hush money case.

“The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected,” Brewster wrote on Twitter. “Now let truth and justice prevail.”

Daniels was the alleged recipient of over $100,000, channeled through longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen, as part of a non-disclosure settlement. She was paid to stay quiet before the 2016 election about an alleged affair with Trump years earlier.

Daniels’ real name is Stephanie Clifford.

— Rohan Goswami

Former President Donald Trump called the indictment by a New York grand jury “political persecution” and vowed to fight Democratic Party officials as he makes another run for the White House.

Trump’s reaction came after the grand jury voted to indict the former president and current 2024 candidate following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden. The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here,” Trump said in a statement. “Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden.”

— Brian Schwartz

Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who was a key witness in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation, said that “no one is above the law” after his longtime boss was indicted by a New York grand jury.

“I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former President. Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter; but rather, just the beginning,” Cohen said in a statement. “Now that the charges have been filed, it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself. The two things I wish to say at this time is that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided to DANY.”

Cohen, in an interview on MSNBC, said he met with the district attorney at least two dozen times during Bragg’s investigation into a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Cohen was previously sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud, lying to banks and violating campaign finance laws.

Cohen told MSNBC that he believes Trump is “petrified” after the indictment.

“The mug shot is going to really upset his fragile ego,” Cohen told NBC.

— Brian Schwartz

A New York grand jury voted Thursday to indict former President Donald Trump in connection with a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, his lawyer told CNBC.

Trump is the first former president to be charged with a crime.

The historic indictment stems from the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into how the Trump Organization recorded a reimbursement to Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen after Cohen paid Daniels to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in 2006.

— Dan Mangan