Former President Donald Trump was charged with a criminal charge Thursday by a New York state court, a historic first that is only the first step in a long legal road.
New York justice opened an investigation in 2018 into a $130,000 payment made to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election to conceal an alleged extramarital relationship with Donald Trump. The sum had not been reported in the Republican candidate's campaign accounts in violation of state election laws, and recorded as "legal fees" in the accounts of his New York-headquartered company.
In January, Manhattan Democratic prosecutor Alvin Bragg assigned the case to a grand jury. In the United States, a grand jury is made up of randomly selected citizens who are tasked with conducting a confidential investigation to determine if there is enough evidence to bring formal charges against a suspect. Thursday, the grand jury met at 2 p.m. in the presence of three prosecutors in charge of the case according to the New York Times. After three hours of discussions behind closed doors, he adopted an indictment, the charges of which have not been made public.
Prosecutors contacted Donald Trump's lawyers on Thursday evening to set the date on which he will appear in court in New York to be formally notified of his indictment. If he refused, he could be arrested and would then have to be "extradited" from Florida, where he lives, to New York, each state having its own legal system.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Twitter that he wouldn't be very cooperative, even though the Constitution bars him from opposing his transfer. According to the American media, Donald Trump should however agree to present himself before the New York justice, probably at the beginning of next week. "He will be photographed, his fingerprints will be taken, and Trump will be presented to a judge who will ask him what he intends to plead: he will definitely say not guilty," said Carl Tobias, professor of law at the university. of Richmond, Virginia.
It is likely that Donald Trump's lawyers will engage in a legal guerrilla warfare to try to have his indictment invalidated, perhaps by arguing that the investigation was incriminating or a formal defect. If they fail to do so, the normal course of justice provides for three scenarios after a charge:
- Charges can be dropped. This is relatively frequent and may be particularly linked to the arrival of a new prosecutor, but quite unlikely in Donald Trump's case, given its impact;
- the accused can make a deal with the prosecutors and agree to plead guilty to avoid a trial and get a lighter sentence. It is even less likely, Donald Trump repeating at will that he did nothing wrong;
- the justice organizes a trial, but must first respect several procedures, with various preliminary hearings. Again, it is likely that Donald Trump's lawyers will use all possible levers to delay this deadline.
Absolutely not. In the United States, a criminally charged or convicted person can run for any office and be elected. The Constitution provides only one exception to holding public office: participating in an "insurrection" or "rebellion" against the United States. Donald Trump, who entered the 2024 presidential race last November, is being investigated by federal justice for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but no charge has not been held against him at this stage.
