The night’s announcement from the United States means that Donald Trump will make history – as the first president to be charged with a crime. The ex-president’s lawyer describes it as a cold shower for Trump. The billionaire’s staff believed the grand jury would wait several more weeks before acting, reports the New York Times. On Thursday evening, a grand jury in New York voted to indict former US President Donald Trump. The indictment concerns so-called “hush money” that Trump paid porn star Stormy Daniels – a sum of 130,000 dollars. The New York Times writes that Donald Trump’s staff, who are at his Florida residence Mar-a-Lago, were “taken to their beds” by the announcement, as they did not expect an indictment – or any action at all – for several weeks. Some of Trump’s advisers are said to have been sure that nothing would happen until the end of April. CNN has the same information: – If this is a shock today? Of course it is, says an anonymous source to the channel. Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina also describes Trump as “shocked” by the indictment, reports Fox News. From Optimism to Anxiety The New York Times reports that the former president’s mood in recent weeks has gone from optimistic to anxious, with concerns about his future. “This is an unprecedented attack on our country. It is also an attack on our free and fair elections. The United States is now a third world country, a nation in decline,” Trump himself wrote on Thursday evening on his platform Truth social. Several top Republicans condemn the prosecution of Trump. Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy writes on Twitter that District Attorney Alvin Bragg has “irreparably damaged our country in an attempt to interfere in our presidential election.” Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, calls the indictment “scandalous” and believes that the grand jury is only further trying to divide the United States. Protests in Florida The governor of Florida, and probably the Republican who will challenge Trump for the presidential nomination, Ron DeSantis writes that the prosecution is un-American. “Weaponizing the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law upside down,” DeSantis said on Twitter. Donald Trump is also supported among his supporters. Outside the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence, outraged Republicans protest the indictment in support of Trump. Many of the details surrounding the indictment are still unknown. Trump himself denies that he did anything illegal. In the player above: See how the American people are reacting to the impeachment against Trump.
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The shock at Mar-a-Lago: Trump thought impeachment was weeks away
