Trump faces charges today over hush money payments
The Independent|March 23, 2023
Grand jurors on standby as ex-president denies allegations
JILL COLVIN
Trump faces charges today over hush money payments

Donald Trump could be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury later today and potentially charged with falsifying business records connected to hush money payments during his 2016 campaign to women who accused him of sexual encounters.

A vote on whether to indict the former president is expected within days; the grand jurors cancelled a meeting yesterday but were told to be on standby for today.

It's one of several investigations that have intensified as Trump mounts his third presidential run. He has denied any allegations of wrongdoing and accuses prosecutors of engaging in a politically motivated "witch hunt" to damage his campaign.

For 40 years, Trump has navigated countless legal investigations without ever facing criminal charges. That record may soon come to an end.

An indictment in New York would mark an extraordinary turn in American history, making Trump the first former president to face a criminal charge. And it would carry tremendous weight for Trump himself, threatening his long-established ability to avoid consequences despite entanglement in a dizzying number of cases.

Indictment, says biographer Michael D'Antonio, would be a "shocking event, both because of the fact that a former president is being indicted for the first time, but also because one of the slipperiest people at the highest level of business, whose devotion to abusing the system is so well established, is being caught."

"Throughout his life, he has done things for which he could have been investigated and potentially prosecuted and learned from those experiences that he could act with impunity," he said.

This story is from the March 23, 2023 edition of The Independent.

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This story is from the March 23, 2023 edition of The Independent.

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