In an unexpected move last Thursday, the Manhattan grand jury investigating the 2016 hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels voted to indict former President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said they were working with Trump’s legal team to coordinate the former president’s surrender, which is expected to happen on Tuesday.
According to sources, Manhattan prosecutors had asked that Trump surrender to authorities last Friday, but his lawyers argued that the Secret Service needed additional time to make the necessary security preparations.
On Friday, Reuters reported that Trump would travel to Manhattan on Monday, April 3, and is expected to surrender to authorities the following day to be processed before his arraignment in court.
Susan Necheles, the lead attorney on Trump’s defense team, said the former president will be pleading not guilty.
The news of Trump’s indictment was met with a mixture of glee and disappointment among the anti-Trump Resistance, including former aides of Hillary Clinton, according to Business Insider,
Coining the word “Schadenfear,” Jesse Ferguson, Clinton’s former deputy national press secretary, told Business Insider that his delight in Trump’s indictment is clouded by fear.
Close Clinton associate Philippe Reines told Business Insider that Trump’s indictment is the “epitome of too little too late.”
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that the Trump campaign announced that the former president would be delivering remarks Tuesday evening when he returns to Mar-a-Lago after his arraignment.
According to the Associated Press, Trump will hold the campaign event with some of his supporters as a way to turn the indictment into a political opportunity to boost his 2024 presidential campaign.
While the Trump campaign refused to comment on what the former president plans to say in his Tuesday remarks, sources familiar with the planned event told Reuters that Trump’s remarks will focus on the “political weaponization of the justice system” and how it is being used to interfere with the 2024 election.
