A Manhattan grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump on felony charges. The indictment is sealed and the charges are not public yet. Here's everything we know so far.
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00:00 (crowd cheering)
00:02 The Manhattan Grand Jury voted on Thursday
00:05 to indict former President Donald Trump.
00:07 This is Oma Sadiq.
00:08 I'm a politics reporter with Insider.
00:11 He is the first former president in American history
00:15 to ever face criminal charges.
00:17 And these charges are likely connected
00:20 to a hush money payment that was made ahead
00:22 of the 2016 election to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
00:27 Trump's lawyer has previously said
00:29 that Trump will surrender if he was facing criminal charges.
00:33 And his lawyer is now confirming
00:35 that Trump will likely surrender next week.
00:38 This does not stop Trump from running for president.
00:40 And he has even said previously, if he's ever indicted,
00:43 he will never drop out of the race.
00:45 And there is no law that's preventing him
00:48 from running in this election.
00:50 And he's widely considered to be the front runner
00:52 for the Republican nomination.
00:54 We've spoken to several political consultants
00:56 about whether or not an indictment
00:58 in this hush money case would affect Trump's standing
01:01 with his base.
01:02 Most of them said no.
01:03 They don't think that it'll be likely
01:05 that this will harm any of his support
01:07 with his diehard followers.
01:10 But when it comes to the rest of the Republican Party,
01:13 which includes moderates, independents,
01:15 it's uncertain whether or not this indictment
01:17 is gonna affect him.
01:18 I mean, I think time will tell.
01:20 Immediately after the news of the indictment broke,
01:23 we saw Republicans coming to his defense,
01:26 blasting this indictment as a political witch hunt.
01:30 Trump released a lengthy statement
01:31 in response to these charges on Thursday,
01:34 calling it, quote, "This is a political persecution
01:37 "and election interference at the highest level in history."
01:40 He's long been criticizing this investigation,
01:43 as well as the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,
01:45 who's been overseeing it.
01:47 Trump is also under investigation over his efforts
01:51 to overturn the 2020 election results
01:53 and his role in the January 6th Capitol riot.
01:56 And he's under investigation as to whether or not
01:59 he potentially mishandled classified documents
02:02 that the FBI retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago home.
02:05 An indictment in the Manhattan hush money case
02:08 does not mean that this stops these other investigations.
02:11 I mean, these investigations are still ongoing.
02:13 The Manhattan District Attorney's Office
02:15 released a statement saying that they have informed Trump
02:18 of the charges and that an arraignment date
02:21 will be scheduled.
02:22 The bottom line is, this is unprecedented,
02:25 and Trump's attorney has said that they will fight this.
02:28 (upbeat music)
02:30 you