A former President of the United States, Donald Trump, faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in an indictment from a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday.
Trump was indicted on criminal charges by a New York court for his role in organising hush money payments made to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign.
The history-making indictment marks the first time in US history that a current or former president will face criminal charges.
Trump is expected to appear in court on Tuesday, April 4, for his arraignment, according to CNN.
Following the indictment, Trump released a defiant statement, calling it, “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has allegedly been investigating Trump in connection with his alleged role in a hush money payment scheme and cover-up involving adult film star, Stormy Daniels, during the 2016 presidential campaign.
When asked by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer whether Michael Cohen’s payments to silence women who claimed affairs with Donald Trump were a crime, former Vice President, Mike Pence, said the self-described fixer went to jail for “lying to Congress.”
Pence said, “Well, I can see the lying to congress is a crime, which was — if memory serves — what Michael Cohen went to jail for the most part.”
Cohen pleaded guilty to nine federal crimes including tax fraud, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations for helping pay off two women who threatened to go public with past alleged affairs with Trump just before the 2016 election, although, Trump has denied the affairs.
Trump’s company labeled Cohen’s reimbursement of the payment as a legal expense and did not disclose them in campaign expense reports.
