US ex-president Donald Trump became the first former US president to be charged with a crime on Thursday after a New York grand jury indicted him for hush money payments made to a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The 76-year-old Republican’s historic indictment, which comes despite his denial of any wrongdoing about the payments made before the election that put him in the White House, is guaranteed to upend the current presidential contest in which Trump intends to win back the White House.

And it will forever mark the legacy of the former leader, who survived two impeachments and kept prosecutors at bay over everything from the US Capitol riot to missing classified files — only to land in court over a sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels, a 44-year-old adult movie actress.

Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles told AFP she expects he will be arraigned on Tuesday next week.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office confirmed that it had contacted Trump’s lawyers Thursday evening to “coordinate his surrender” in New York — with the felony charges against him to be revealed at that point.

Trump slammed the indictment as “political persecution and election interference,” raging against prosecutors and his Democratic opponents and vowing that it would backfire on his successor, President Joe Biden.

Surrendering for arraignment over what CNN has reported could be as many as 30 counts related to business fraud would normally involve being fingerprinted and photographed, potentially even handcuffed.

In the Republican camp, Trump’s allies and sons denounced what they say is a vendetta aimed at derailing his 2024 campaign — while his expected challenger for the party nomination, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, slammed the indictment as “un-American.”

Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, said the indictment had “irreparably damaged” the country. Trump’s former vice president and possible 2024 challenger Mike Pence called it an “outrage” that would only “further serve to divide” the United States.

But the top Democrat Adam Schiff — lead prosecutor of Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 — called it “a sobering and unprecedented development.”

“The indictment and arrest of a former president are unique throughout all of American history,” Schiff said in a statement. “But so too is the unlawful conduct for which Trump has been charged.”

Daniels welcomed the development with her characteristic aplomb.

“I have so many messages coming in that I can’t respond…also don’t want to spill my champagne,” she tweeted while also plugging her #TeamStormy merchandise.

– Possible protests –

Trump also faces felony investigations in Georgia relating to the 2020 election and in Washington over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by the ex-president’s supporters, who hoped to keep him in office after his election loss to Joe Biden.

– Republican frontrunner –

Trump, who is seen to be the frontrunner to be the Republican nominee in the 2024 election, has branded all of the investigations as political persecution.

The impact of an indictment on his election chances is unpredictable, with critics and adversaries alike voicing concerns about the legal merits of the hush money case.

Detractors worry that if Trump were cleared, it could make it easier to dismiss as a “witch hunt” any future indictment in arguably more serious affairs — such as Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results.

The Manhattan charges will also likely juice turnout among Trump’s base, boosting his chances in the party primary.

Trump staged his first presidential campaign rally in Texas on Saturday, addressing several thousand supporters — far fewer than the 15,000 he had expected — in the city of Waco, Texas.

“The innocence of people makes no difference whatsoever to these radical left maniacs,” he told the fired-up crowd.

AFP