Donald Trump indicted in Stormy Daniels case. No U.S. president had ever before been criminally charged.

By Lukas I. Alpert

New York prosecutors say Trump broke the law for his role in a hush money payment to the porn star to bury her story claiming they had an affair

The Teflon Don is facing his biggest test.

After years of investigations and probes into Donald Trump for a wide variety of alleged crimes, a Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict him, marking the first time in U.S. history a former or serving president will face criminal charges.

The indictment has yet to be unsealed so the specifics of the charges weren't immediately clear, but the Manhattan district attorney has alleged that Trump had broken the law for his role in a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels at the height of the 2016 presidential election campaign to quash her story claiming they once had a sexual encounter.

Despite years of various investigations, Trump had so far avoided prosecution.

The New York Times was first to report the indictment, which was later confirmed by Trump's lawyers, Joe Tacopina and Susan Necheles, late Thursday. "President Trump has been indicted," they said in a statement. "He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this this political prosecution in court."

In his own statement, Trump called the indictment "political persecution and election interference at the highest level," and accused Democrats of "cheating" and "weaponizing our justice system."

In an emailed statement Thursday, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is a Democrat, said arrangements are being made for Trump's surrender: "This evening we contacted Mr. Trump's attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.'s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected."

There were news reports that Trump would turn himself in next week, and, in an email to MarketWatch, Necheles said Trump's arraignment is expected to take place Tuesday.

Also see: Donald Trump has been indicted. Could he still run for president?

The hush-money charges mark an extraordinary turn of events for Trump, who has been under investigation for election interference in Georgia and the discovery of classified government documents at his Florida mansion, as he seeks to make a political comeback with a run for the White House in 2024.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was paid $130,000 by Trump's then--personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, after she had approached the tabloid National Enquirer offering to sell a kiss-and-tell story about having sex with Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006.

Clifford then signed a nondisclosure agreement, and the National Enquirer never published the story -- a tabloid-journalism practice known as "catch and kill."

Cohen initially made the payment using money he took from a home-equity loan on his Manhattan residence, and funneled it to Clifford through a shell company he created in Delaware. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 in federal court to campaign-finance violations over his role in the payoff, said he was directed to make the payment by Trump, who later reimbursed him.

From the archives (May 2018):Trump repaid Cohen for payment to Stormy Daniels, Giuliani says

That payment was recorded by Trump's company as being for legal services. Federal prosecutors had argued that the payments amounted to illegal, unreported assistance to Trump's campaign.

Trump was never charged in the federal probe but was listed in court documents as "co-conspirator number one."

The former president has denied having the alleged sexual liaison with Clifford and has characterized her efforts to sell such a story as extortion.

Cohen had also been involved in orchestrating an earlier catch-and-kill payment in 2016 involving a former Playboy bunny named Karen McDougal, who was given $150,000 for her story about an affair with Trump by the National Enquirer, which then never ran an article on the subject.

The editor and publisher of the National Enquirer were given nonprosecution agreements in exchange for their cooperation with the federal investigation.

From the archives (June 2021):National Enquirer owner, former CEO fined for breaking election law to help Trump in 2016

Plus (July 2019):Court records reveal Trump camp's effort to bury stories about Stormy Daniels

Also see:Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testifies before Trump grand jury

Trump has been facing an FBI investigation into his keeping boxes of highly classified documents after he left the White House following his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. He also has been subject to a grand-jury probe into his alleged tampering with the 2020 election process in Georgia in a bid to cancel President Biden's narrow victory in that state.

His real-estate company, the Trump Organization, has been the subject of a lawsuit by the New York attorney general's office for allegedly falsifying business and tax records. The Manhattan district attorney had similarly looked into Trump's business practices but has so far declined to press charges.

Read on:

Jeff Bezos accuses National Enquirer of attempting to blackmail him with more explicit photos

Make it stop, Jeff Bezos -- this Enquirer is not that Enquirer, shouts Cincinnati paper yet again

- Lukas I. Alpert

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03-31-23 0939ET

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