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Donald Trump: What's An Indictment And What Happens Next

A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump over alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Donald Trump. (Photo: Reuters)&nbsp;</p></div>
Donald Trump. (Photo: Reuters) 

Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be indicted in what is expected to further polarise America.

A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump on Thursday over hush money payments to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, during his 2016 presidential campaign.

Daniels claims she and Trump had a sexual encounter, and that the former U.S. president's one-time lawyer Michael Cohen paid her $130,000 to maintain silence. Cohen was allegedly reimbursed by the Trump Organization. The former U.S. president has denied the allegations and his lawyers said they will aggressively fight them in the court.

The indictment was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

What's An Indictment?

An indictment is the first step to formally present charges in a court against people accused of crimes. To secure a conviction, these charges must be proved in the court.

Trump will face arraignment next, or when the charges will be formally read to him in the court. That may happen as early as Tuesday, Bloomberg reported quoting Trump's lawyers.

Trump will have to surrender to the authorities, he will be fingerprinted and have his mug shot taken, like other criminal defendants, according to a Bloomberg report citing court officials. He is unlikely to be handcuffed, they said.

Trump's lawyer Joseph Tacopina had said earlier this month the former president would surrender if he’s indicted, according to Bloomberg.

What Are The Implications?

The indictment will further polarise U.S. with the majority of Republicans calling it a witch-hunt by the Democrats.

It will also breathe life into Trump's presidential run for the 2024 election, just when he was struggling and other Republican challengers like Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy had emerged.

Anticipating the indictment, Trump had warned of “potential death and destruction”— echoing his statements ahead of the insurrection at US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.  

In a statement after the indictment, he said: “The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable - indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference.”

He warned that the “this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden”.

Is This The Only Case Trump Faces?

No. He is facing several legal challenges, including investigations and civil cases, for trying to undermine 2020 presidential election results, allegedly inciting Jan. 6, 2021 violence at US Capitol and for allegedly inflating the value of his real estate assets. He is also facing defamation and tax evasion cases.