Trump intends to surrender himself to Manhattan DA in the early part of next week

Trump just got indicted, here’s what happens next …

Trump’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury means he is formally charged with a crime. But there are still several steps before his case gets to a potential trial.

After the indictment, Trump will be arrested and taken into custody. He will likely have a mug shot and fingerprints taken.

Trump will then appear in court to be arraigned, where he will hear charges and enter a plea. Two sources familiar with the situation told NBC News that the former president is likely to be arraigned next week. Trump will either be jailed or released while pre-trial hearings take place.

The case can then be dismissed or it can go to trial. If Trump is found guilty at trial, he will then be sentenced for the crime.

D.A. Bragg has left his office

Bragg left his office just before 7:15 p.m.

Greene defends Trump as ‘innocent’ says ‘gloves are off’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent ally of the former president, doggedly defended him on Twitter.

“My President is innocent and the only one standing in the way of these modern day tyrants, just like our founding fathers did, to protect each of us from evil,” Greene wrote. Minutes later, she added, “Our side chants ‘lock her up’ and their side is going to get a mug shot based on a witch hunt. It’s time to change that. Gloves are off.”

NBC News reported in January that the second-term Georgia Republican is angling to be Trump’s running mate in 2024.

McCarthy says Manhattan D.A. ‘irreparably damaged’ the country

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “irreparably damaged” the country “in an attempt to interfere in our Presidential election” after a grand jury indicted the former president.

“As he routinely frees violent criminals to terrorize the public, he weaponized our sacred system of justice against President Donald Trump,” the California Republican said on Twitter.

“The American people will not tolerate this injustice, and the House of Representatives will hold Alvin Bragg and his unprecedented abuse of power to account,” McCarthy said.

Ron DeSantis slams Trump indictment as a ‘weaponization of the legal system’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely opponent of Trump’s for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said his state will not assist in an extradition request if one is made for the former president.

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head,” DeSantis wrote in a tweet. “It is un-American.”

DeSantis accused Manhattan district attorney of “stretching the law” to target a political opponent.

“Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda,” DeSantis said.

Stormy Daniels was horseback riding when she heard indictment news, lawyer says

Stormy Daniels’ attorney Clark Brewster told NBC News that his client was horseback riding when the news of Trump’s indictment broke — came inside — and was totally surprised to see the news.

Trump expected to surrender to DA early next week, lawyer says

Former president Trump is expected to surrender to the Manhattan DA’s office early next week, his attorney Joe Tacopina told NBC News.

Two sources familiar with the situation also told NBC News that Trump’s attorneys are already in touch with prosecutors and expect him to be arraigned next week.

Possible Trump primary rival Asa Hutchinson: ‘A dark day’

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican who has been at odds with Trump and is considering seeking the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, said it is “a dark day for America when a former president is indicted on criminal charges.”

“While the grand jury found credible facts to support the charges, it is important that the presumption of innocence follows Mr. Trump,” Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor, added in a statement. “We need to wait on the facts and for our American system of justice to work like it does for thousands of Americans every day.”

Hutchinson concluded by emphasizing that he believes “the decision on America’s next President [should] be made at the ballot box and not in the court system.”

“Donald Trump should not be the next president,” Hutchinson said, “but that should be decided by the voters.” 

Trump refers to his indictment as ‘an attack on our country’

In a post on his social media platform, Trump lashed out at “thugs and radical left monsters” involved in the probe, insisting that they were targeting him as the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.

“THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. IT IS LIKEWISE A CONTINUING ATTACK ON OUR ONCE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “THE USA IS NOW A THIRD WORLD NATION, A NATION IN SERIOUS DECLINE. SO SAD!”

Trump sought to paint the probe as a new form of election interference this week on Fox News.

Trump, who has maintained that the payment to Daniels was not a campaign contribution, told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday that Bragg’s probe was an effort to cheat in elections by his opponents. “It’s called election interference,” he said.

Moderate GOP Rep. Don Bacon isn’t rushing to Trump’s defense

Moderate Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is not rushing to Trump’s defense.

“I trust our legal system,” he told NBC News. “There’s checks and balances with a jury, judges and appeals. President Trump will be able to make his defense and we’ll all see if this is a partisan prosecution or not.”

Here’s how Donald Trump, Jr. found out about the indictment

On his Rumble show, “Triggered with Don Jr.,” the former president’s son talked about how he heard about the indictment.

“I found out about this about 15 minutes before I went live,” he said, adding, “I was literally getting in my car to drive to an event … and when like my phone starts blowing up and I’m like, ‘Oh crap.’ So I don’t even know what it means yet.”

“They got him now and they’ll do this and they’ll get their show trial or whatever,” he continued, “at least the show perp walk or that’s what they’ll try.”

Stormy Daniels, at center of case, acknowledges Trump indictment

Adult film star Stormy Daniels, at the center of the hush money case, acknowledged the indictment of Trump by retweeting her lawyer on Twitter, saying, “Thank you.”

Kari Lake says indictment ‘only strengthens our resolve to fight’

Arizona Republican Kari Lake responded to Trump’s indictment with three tweets Thursday, saying the news would make Trump “stronger.”

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“I didn’t think I could possibly support him more, but this political Witch Hunt only strengthens our resolve to fight,” she tweeted.

Lake vigorously promoted Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election during her failed 2022 campaign for Arizona governor, and went on to make claims of election fraud after her own defeat.

She echoed the false claims in her tweets Thursday.

“The Radical Left and their weaponized criminal justice system have crossed all legal & ethical lines in an attempt to destroy the 45th & 47th President of the United State of America Donald J. Trump,” she tweeted.

Trump lawyer: ‘He will be vindicated’

Uwa Ede-Osifo

“A former president, a current candidate and my friend President Donald J. Trump is a victim of a corrupt and distorted version of the American justice system and history,” said Trump’s attorney Alina Habba.

 “He will be vindicated.”

Lanny Davis says Michael Cohen spoke ‘truth to power’

Lanny Davis, the attorney for Michael Cohen, praised his client for the “brave decision” to come out as a key witness against his former boss.

“On July 2, 2018, Michael Cohen made the brave decision to speak truth to power and accept the consequences,” Davis wrote in a statement. “And he has done so ever since.”

He added, “I am proud to have been his lawyer and his friend through this long journey on the path to justice and accountability.”

Liberal House members cheer indictment

Liberals in the House are celebrating Trump’s indictment on Twitter.

“Grand Jury votes to indict Trump!” tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of the progressive Squad and a frequent target of Trump.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., another Trump target, tweeted: “SO Trump finally got indicted! I predicted he would and I predicted that Stormy Daniels would get him! Sometimes justice works! #TrumpIndictment”

“May justice be served, finally,” added Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.

Freshman Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., tweeted one word: “Good”

Trump’s first public comment: Democrats have ‘done the unthinkable — indicting a completely innocent person’

In Trump’s first public reaction to being indicted, the former president called the decision “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”

The statement released by his 2024 presidential campaign said that the “radical Left Democrats” have engaged in a witch hunt to destroy his MAGA movement.

“You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this,” Trump 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.”

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Trump accused Democrats of cheating “countless times” and “weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever.”

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The former president said that Manhattan District Attorney is “doing Joe Biden’s dirty work” and predicted that the indictment will “will backfire massively on Joe Biden.”

“So our Movement, and our Party — united and strong — will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he said.

A list of the people at the center of Trump’s indictment

Exonerated Central Park Five member on indictment: ‘Karma’

Exonerated Central Park Five member Yusef Salaam initially offered only one word in reponse to the news that Trump had been indicted: “Karma.”

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Salaam later elaborated on Twitter. Now an author and motivational speaker, he emphasized that Trump “never said sorry for calling for my execution.”

In 1989 a group of five Black and Latino teenagers were wrongfully convicted of raping a jogger in New York City. Trump took out advertisements in four New York City newspapers calling for the state to adopt the death penalty for the five suspects.

The convictions were vacated in 2002 and the city paid $41 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit in 2014 regarding the case against the five, but Trump refused to apologize for the public gesture.

Trump is first former president to face criminal indictment

The vote to indict Trump adds to the ignominious “firsts” of his single term in office: Trump was the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice and now he is the first former president in U.S. history to face a criminal indictment.

Former President Richard Nixon likely would have faced a criminal investigation for his role in the Watergate scandal, but was pardoned by successor Gerald Ford, while Bill Clinton faced civil, but not criminal, troubles.

Trump was indicted. What happens next?

DNC says ‘no matter what happens,’ Trump still has tight grip on GOP

A spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, Ammar Moussa, said in a statement that regardless of how the Trump indictment ends up, he still has a grip on the GOP.

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“No matter what happens in Trump’s upcoming legal proceedings, it’s obvious the Republican Party remains firmly in the hold of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans,” the national press secretary said. “We will continue to hold Trump and all Republican candidates accountable for the extreme MAGA agenda that includes banning abortion, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and undermining free and fair elections.”

Trump’s lawyers say they will ‘vigorously fight’ vote to indict

Trump attorneys Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina promised to fight the grand jury’s vote to indict Trump in a statement to NBC News.

“President Trump has been indicted. He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in Court,” the attorneys said.

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Trump-roasting group Lincoln Project has no sympathy for former president

The Lincoln Project, the group of conservative activists who worked against Trump, did not mince words in their response to the grand jury vote to indict Trump on Thursday.

“Donald Trump is no victim,” the group said in a statement.

“Trump gave money to a porn star to stay quiet about their affair to protect his campaign and covered it up,” they added. “The grand jury found sufficient evidence to indict him. This indictment sends the first of many clear messages to the nation that the Rule of Law still has meaning.”

GOP Ways and Means chair insists probe has always been focused on ‘political gain’

House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., slammed the investigation and insisted it was dubious legal reasoning that led to the vote to indict.

“This has been all about one thing from the start — targeting Donald Trump for political gain,” Smith told NBC News.

“The legal case here is so questionable that any other respecting prosecutor would have long since walked away from it. The truth will be exposed in the days and months ahead.”

Former Trump spokesperson slams ‘indictment of a failed nation’

Taylor Budowich, the head of Trump’s super PAC, said the grand jury vote to indict the former president was the “indictment of a failed nation,” and promised that Trump would be “re-elected in the greatest landslide in American history.”

“This is not an indictment of a crime — there was no crime — instead, this news is the indictment of a failed nation,” Budowich, CEO of Make America Great Again Inc. and a former spokesperson for Trump, wrote in a statement.

He added, “President Trump is promising to peacefully end the war in Ukraine, dismantle the deep state, and save our country by putting America first. For that, the political elites and powerbrokers have weaponized government to try and stop him. They will fail.”

Pollster: Indictment rumors have helped Trump in GOP primary

Republican voters have rallied behind Trump in the weeks leading up to today’s grand jury vote, according to a new Fox News poll, heeding Trump’s arguments that an indictment would be yet another attack by his political enemies.

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“The rumor that Trump is going to be indicted by the district attorney in Manhattan has helped him quite a bit among Republican primary voters,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who along with a Democratic counterpart conducted the survey released Thursday. “They view the case as politically motivated, and it reanimates feelings that Trump is still fighting forces they see as corrupt and out of control.”

Trump gained 11 percentage points in the new poll over Fox News’ February survey of the potential GOP 2024 presidential primary field, giving him a majority — 54% — of the vote for the first time this year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, lost 4 percentage points over the same period.

Stormy Daniels’ attorney reacts to vote to indict Trump

The attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, Clark Brewster, said in a statement that the grand jury’s vote to indict Trump is “no cause for joy.”

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“The hard work and conscientiousness of the grand jurors must be respected. Now let truth and justice prevail. No one is above the law. #teamstormy,” Brewster said.

Daniels is at the center of the hush money case as she was paid to keep quiet about her alleged affair with Trump.

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Donald Trump Jr. compares grand jury vote to communism

March 30, 202300:39

Donald Trump Jr. said on a livestream that the grand jury’s vote to indict his father was “communist-level s—.”

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“This is stuff that would make Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot blush,” he said on the livestream, which was hosted on the right-leaning video platform Rumble.

Vivek Ramaswamy, GOP presidential candidate, says country is ‘skating on thin ice’

He’s vying to beat Trump in the 2024 Republican primary for president, but Vivek Ramaswamy came to his opponent’s defense and railed against the Manhattan district attorney after a grand jury voted to indict Trump on Thursday.

“This is wrong. This is dangerous. We’re skating on thin ice as a country right now,” Ramaswamy, a conservative activist, said in a video posted to his social media. “I think we may be heading on our way to a national divorce. I’m running for president because I care about a national revival instead.”

Ramaswamy alleged without evidence that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA, “delivered on a campaign promise” by pushing for the indictment and claimed the result could turn the U.S. into a “banana republic.”

The novice political candidate did state that “had it been anybody else other than Donald Trump on this set of facts, it would have been charged as a misdemeanor,” suggesting he believed the former president was involved in wrongdoing.

Michael Cohen: ‘I believe that Donald right now is petrified’

Michael Cohen, a key witness in the case, said on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” that he always believed “that this day was going to come.”

“I also predicted that Alvin Bragg would be the first,” the former Trump attorney said, dismissing “talking heads” who said that this case was the weakest of those against Trump. “Why are we comparing one versus the other? Accountability isn’t supposed to be, you know, whether you think Jan. 6 is more relevant than campaign finance or the various different things that they’re looking at,” he said.

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Cohen continued, “I believe that Donald right now is petrified. This is one of his biggest fears,” and said that it is “going to really upset his fragile ego.”

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“The documents speak for themselves and the documents are not beneficial to Donald Trump. Plain and simple. They are factual. They are a true and accurate accounting of everything that transpired,” he said.

Trump’s son calls decision ‘third world misconduct’

March 30, 202302:08

Eric Trump was the first of the former president’s children to respond to a grand jury voting to indict his father by saying, “This is third world prosecutorial misconduct. It is the opportunistic targeting of a political opponent in a campaign year.”

Trump’s biggest allies on the Hill go on the offensive

Trump’s GOP allies on Capitol Hill quickly defended the former president on Twitter and blasted the grand jury’s vote to indict him.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., called it “another political witch hunt,” painting the grand jury’s move as an effort to target “the people’s president.”

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., condemned the move as well, calling Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg an “extremist.”

“Trump Derangement Syndrome has infiltrated our judicial system and if they can come from him, they can come for anyone,” Biggs tweeted.

In an apparent reference to Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, slammed “cowardly Democrats” and said, “When Trump wins, THESE PEOPLE WILL PAY!!” Jackson served as physician to the president under Trump.

Michael Cohen: Trump’s indictment shows ‘no one is above the law’

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who was a key witness in the grand jury’s investigation and testified several times, said that the indictment of the former president is “just the beginning.”

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In a statement, Cohen said he takes “no pride” in saying that for the first time in the nation’s history, “a President (current or former) of the United States has been indicted.”

“I take no pride in issuing this statement and wish to also remind everyone of the presumption of innocence; as provided by the due process clause,” Cohen said.

“However, I do take solace in validating the adage that no one is above the law; not even a former President. Today’s indictment is not the end of this chapter; but rather, just the beginning,” he continued. “Now that the charges have been filed, it is better for the case to let the indictment speak for itself. The two things I wish to say at this time is that accountability matters and I stand by my testimony and the evidence I have provided to [the District Attorney of New York].”

Trump lawyers notified grand jury voted to indict him

Two sources familiar with the situation tell NBC News that Trump’s attorneys have been notified that the grand jury has voted to indict him.

A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Trump

A grand jury in New York voted to indict former President Donald Trump, according to three officials familiar with the matter.

The case centers on a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels claimed she slept with the married Trump in 2006, a claim the former president has denied. Trump classified his reimbursement of the payout as legal expenses.

Read more of this story here.