Update: Donald Trump was finally indicted by a New York grand jury on Thursday. Read our most recent article here.
The soap opera could still last several weeks. After keeping America in suspense for ten days, the hypothetical criminal indictment of Donald Trump in a case of buying the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels should not occur before the end of April, reports Wednesday the press.
The former tenant of the White House, who dreams of “reclaiming” it in 2024, must answer before the justice of the State of New York and his attorney for Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, for a payment of 130,000 dollars to the actress and director of pornographic films Stormy Daniels.
While the press was buzzing with rumors in early March of a possible indictment, Donald Trump had pulled off a political coup on March 18 by claiming without the slightest evidence on his social network Truth Social that he would be “arrested” and appear before a New York court three days later to be charged. But nothing happened. And the country waited 10 days for this indictment which would be unprecedented against a former American president.
The Washington PostPolitician et al New York Daily News say on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that justice should not decide before April 24.
“False expectation”
Since March 20, a grand jury — a panel of citizens with investigative powers that works alongside prosecutors and votes on indictments — has met only twice and no further calls are scheduled. The Manhattan prosecutor’s office assures us every day that it “cannot comment on matters related to the grand jury”.
For his part, Donald Trump, who denies “any crime” and any connection with Stormy Daniels, had estimated on Sunday and Monday that the investigation was “dead”, a “scam” and “electoral interference” orchestrated by “thugs” before the 2024 presidential election.
For years, justice has sought to determine whether the 76-year-old former Republican president was guilty of misrepresentation, a minor offense, or breach of campaign finance laws, a criminal offense, by having paid money to porn actress Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, just before her November 2016 presidential victory.
What purpose ? So that she keeps quiet about a supposed extramarital affair 10 years earlier. Accused by Donald Trump of being an “animal” and a “racist” and by Republicans of having a “political motive”, Prosecutor Bragg, an elected African-American Democrat, replied that the billionaire had “created a false expectation” media on his indictment and denounced an “interference” in the investigation.