TRUMP INDICTED
FORMER president Donald Trump has been indicted over alleged hush money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.
This historic development makes Trump the first ex-U.S. president to be indicted.
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Trump, 76, is likely to appear before the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday after announcing his surrender.
He could face up to 30 charges related to business fraud.
Trump will be photographed and have his fingerprints taken after turning himself in.
He will be flanked by armed Secret Service agents who must protect him at all times, per The New York Times.
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Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina told ABC News on Friday that the former president "will not be put in handcuffs."
The former commander-in-chief has vehemently denied any wrongdoing throughout the probe.
He wrote on his Truth Social platform: "This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.
He claimed Democrats have "cheated countless times over the decades" and deemed the Manhattan DA "a disgrace."
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Trump said: "I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden.
"The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it."
Tacopina and Trump's other defense lawyer Susan Necheles said their client "did not commit any crime."
They said: "We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in court."
Trump's lawyer Chris Kise claimed the indictment marked "the lowest point in history for our criminal justice system.”
The ex-POTUS was locked in talks with his lawyers and has said he plans to fight the charges.
Trump was later seen with his wife Melania at their plush Florida resort Mar-A-Lago in pictures shared online.
Politico reported that the Manhattan DA asked for Trump to surrender on Friday, but the ex-president's lawyers said the Secret Service needed more time.
Meanwhile, NYPD cops have been seen erecting barricades amid potential protests that could erupt in the city.
More than 30,000 officers have been ordered to wear full uniform on Friday and are ready to mobilize, according to CBS News.
Darrin Porcher, an ex-NYPD lieutenant told the outlet: "You'll see a lot of pedestrian pens. You'll set a lot of street closures."
Trump's supporters armed with 2024 flags protested near Mar-a-Lago.
Trump's former lawyer Michael D. Cohen reportedly made the payments to 44-year-old Daniels, born Stephanie Clifford, who claimed to have had an affair with the former president in 2006.
Cohen allegedly paid her $130,000 right before the 2016 presidential election to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.
In the years that followed, Cohen acknowledged making the payment to Daniels.
The adult star claimed Cohen used "intimidation and coercive tactics" to get her to sign on to the statement, denying her affair with Trump.
Cohen eventually pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges stemming from his involvement with the payments.
He told a federal court in Manhattan that Trump directed him to make the payments.
Cohen was eventually sentenced to three years in prison.
The former president has long denied having any affair with the adult star and has branded the probe a "witch hunt."
Trump's indictment comes as he's seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
DeSantis, who has not announced his presidential campaign but is considered Trump's biggest threat for the Republican nomination, slammed Bragg.
He claimed the legal system had been "weaponized" after the verdict was announced.
He raged: "The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American.
"The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct.
"Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent."
DeSantis vowed that Florida would not assist in any potential extradition request.
And, former vice president Mike Pence, who may launch his own bid for the White House this spring, branded Trump's indictment "unprecedented."
Pence told CNN on Thursday that the charges were "outrageous."
He claimed: "I think the American people will look at this and see it as one more example of the criminalization of politics in this country."
Trump's son Eric told DailyMail.com: "This is the opportunistic targeting of a political opponent in a campaign year.
"They are ruthlessly attacking my father because he dared challenge the political elite. This is Exhibit A to the decline of American Law."
Scores of GOP lawmakers in Congress have also slammed the indictment.
But, Republican strategist Rick Wilson, the co-founder of the Lincoln Project think tank, told The U.S. Sun that Trump's indictment strengthens his chance of winning the GOP nomination.
He said: “Trump’s base will lean closer to Donald Trump. They will support him more passionately.
“His supporters will view the indictment as illegitimate and will claim it’s the deep state.”
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The indictment doesn't bar Trump from running for the GOP nomination.
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