President Trump's indictment makes him the first person in U.S. history to serve as president and then be charged with a crime.
Now all eyes turn to what happens next. ABC News is reporting that President Trump is expected to surrender in New York early next week.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said it reached out to Trump's lawyer to coordinate his surrender and arraignment. Typically, for a New York defendant, that means being fingerprinted, photographed, and getting arraigned. ABC Action News spoke to several legal experts who tell us we are in uncharted territory.
Dr. Joshua Scacco, a USF Professor of Political Communication, said, "What this is, is a substantial moment. You have a former president of the United States facing one of the legal system's most harshest sanctions, most harshest consequence and a grand jury finding evidence, probable evidence that a crime has been committed.”
While the details about Trump's grand jury indictment have not been made public, we do know it's tied to an investigation into alleged hush money payments that Trump asked his former lawyer to make to adult entertainment star Stormy Daniels.
We spoke to Jeffrey Swartz, a Tampa attorney and law professor. He said that claim alone is a misdemeanor but said it was likely upgraded to a felony.
"If it was done for the purposes of aiding and assisting his campaign, that is to avoid Stormy Daniels going public during 2019 now it becomes a campaign contribution that was not reported,” Swartz said.
Right now, we do not know if the former president will make his first appearance in court. Swartz said Trump's lawyer can ask a judge to appear on his client's behalf.
This is a major moment in history because a former president has never been criminally charged in the U.S. before. A few weeks ago, Trump posted online that he expects to be arrested and wants his supporters to protest.
Last night a few dozen people gathered near Mar-a-Lago in Palm beach. They were waving MAGA flags and playing the song God Bless America.
We are carefully tracking any new developments in this case.
