Former President Donald Trump is escorted to a courtroom in New York. AP
Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury after a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, becoming the first former US president to face criminal charges. He pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The charges from an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg come as Trump seeks the Republican nomination to run again in 2024.
“A somber moment in the life of our country, when it’s necessary to arraign a former president on criminal charges,” Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat of California, wrote on Tuesday afternoon.
“As the case falls to the DA to prove, we must recognize what is most important: Even the most powerful are held to account, and that nobody is above the law,” wrote Schiff, who was the lead prosecutor in the Senate impeachment trial of Trump in 2020.
“Today is a bad day for all of us & we are all going to regret it for a very long time,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican of Florida, tweeted.
“Today we set the new normal that if you really want to take someone down, nothing should stop you. You should be able to manipulate the law anyway you want to charge someone,” Rubio said in a video posted on his Twitter account, describing the charges against Trump as “absurd.”
“Take responsibility, hold yourself accountable, and go away,” Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat of New York, said when reporters asked if he had a message for Trump.
“I stand w/Trump & will always fight against those who want to destroy our Republic,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a tweet.
“I think the American people should feel reassured that when there is an ongoing case like this one that we’re just not commenting,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in a press briefing.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat of New York, tweeted: “I believe that Donald Trump will have a fair trial that follows the facts and the law. There’s no place in our justice system for any outside influence or intimidation in the legal process. As the trial proceeds, protest is an American right, but all protests must be peaceful.
“Mr. Trump was a president of many firsts — none of which were good for our country. His arraignment is another first — all of his own making,” tweeted Representative Madeleine Dean, a Democrat of Pennsylvania, adding that the twice-impeached president was “an immoral man” and a “corrupt citizen.”
“The indictment of Donald Trump is wholly political and baseless,” said Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican of Texas, on Twitter.
“I stood by Trump from the moment he came down the escalator, I voted for him in the primary and twice for president in the general elections,” Republican representative for New York, George Santos, wrote on Twitter. “Today I showed up, because that’s what real supporters do, they show up for your best and your worse days.”
“The events in New York City have, obviously, been a long time coming. This is a historic day and the implications of what’s about to happen at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan will have massive implications for this country,” Mary Trump, the niece of the former president said in a tweet.
“Donald has eluded accountability for so long and left so much destruction in his wake that there is a lot to take in,” she added with the hashtag “#HappyIndictmentDay.”
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