Trump indictment live updates: Facing about 30 counts, Trump lashes out at NY officials

Trump’s indictment over a hush money payment to an adult film star has provoked mixed reactions from some who have been following the developments out of New York, according to NBC News reporting from Washington D.C.

“It’s high time he got indicted for something. I’m surprised it’s this,” Dennis Hobb told NBC. “It looks like there would be other things they could get him on better, but the man has evaded legal ramifications for so long. It’s time something happened.”

Gerald Glandon, a former Republican who now leans more liberal, thinks New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg would not have brought the case forward without enough evidence. But he is unsure of the outcome of the case.

“I’ve listened to the news. We know what we don’t know … but there must be something there to bring it forward,” Glandon told NBC. “I have no idea what the outcome is gonna be but I’m not hopeful. It’s like a long shot, but nobody’s above the law.” 

Sheryl Freedman told NBC that other possible charges against Trump — for inciting the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol and for seeking to overturn election results in Georgia — are more substantial. She added that the former president might feel emboldened if the New York indictment goes nowhere.

“I think it’ll embolden him if these charges in New York don’t go through,” Freedman said. “I don’t know how much about how January 6 is going to work. I think Georgia has probably the best chance just because I think there’s direct evidence of him contacting the governor and other election officials.”

— Chelsey Cox

A collection of front pages of newspapers, and the ticker outside the headquarters of Fox News, shows how media outlets covered Trump’s historic indictment.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on Trump’s indictment, and said the Oval Office was not told ahead of time it would take place.

“Look, we’re just not going to comment,” Jean-Pierre said. “We found out, all of us, including the president, found out about the news yesterday, just like every other American through the news reports.”

Jean-Pierre said White House chief of staff Jeff Zients informed President Joe Biden of the indictment when the news broke. She declined to speculate on potential protests, but said the White House “supports Americans who want to protest peacefully.”

Biden repeatedly declined to comment when asked about the Trump indictment Friday morning, citing the ongoing criminal case. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is traveling in Zambia, also declined to comment.

— Emma Kinery

Photos show the New York Police Department ramping up security measures around Manhattan after Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury.

Trump said “I am not afraid of what’s to come” as he tried again to leverage his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury for campaign fundraising.

Trump’s fundraising effort has pushed out at least five emails asking supporters to give his campaign money since news broke late Thursday afternoon that he had been criminally charged in connection with a hush money payment to a porn star.

One of those explicitly notes that “tonight’s FEC end-of-quarter deadline” is “just hours away.” That is a reference to the Federal Election Commission, which requires candidates for federal office to file fundraising data quarterly.

Another email offers t-shirts bearing the date of the indictment.

“I stand with Trump – 3.30.2023,” the shirt says.

— Dan Mangan

Senator Elizabeth Warren D-Mass., said the indictment of Trump shows no one is above the judicial system in the U.S.

“This is a very serious moment in history for us but I see this as we are showing one of the fundamental tenants of a democracy — that the law applies to everyone equally,” Warren said on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday morning. “No one is above the law, not even a former president of the United States.”

— Emma Kinery

Trump heaped vitriol on the judge who is expected to preside over his arraignment Tuesday, in a verbal attack that could cause headaches for the former president.

In a Truth Social post that misspelled the name of acting New York County Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, Trump claimed the judge “HATES ME.”

Merchan oversaw the tax fraud cases against Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its former Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg. The ex-Trump executive pleaded guilty in the case and was sentence to five months in jail.

Trump without citing evidence claimed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “hand picked” Merchan for the case. He also alleged the judge “railroaded” Weisselberg and “strong armed” him in the tax case.

Trump’s criticism of the judge could put him on the path to having that judge or another one order him not to make comments about his pending criminal case to avoid influencing potential jurors. If he violated such a ban he could be found in contempt of court.

— Jacob Pramuk

Former President Donald Trump faces about 30 criminal counts in a Manhattan grand jury’s indictment, according to NBC News.

The indictment remains sealed, however, so it’s not clear what Trump will be charged with, although NBC reported that document-fraud charges are among the counts. The investigation grew out of hush money payments made on Trump’s behalf to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Trump is expected to appear before a Manhattan judge Tuesday.

– Mike Calia

Manhattan prosecutors questioned witnesses at the Trump grand jury about a 2016 hush money payment made to a second woman who has said she had sex with the former president, sources told NBC News.

But it is not known if that $150,000 payoff to Playboy playmate Karen McDougal is the subject of any of the criminal charges in the indictment of Trump the grand jury approved Thursday.

McDougal allegedly had a long-time affair with Trump that began in 2006. He denies her claim.

In 2016, McDougal was paid to keep quiet about her allegations by the then-publisher of The National Enquirer. David Pecker, the boss at the time of that notorious supermarket tabloid, was a friend of Trump who had offered to help quash potentially embarrassing stories about him before the presidential election that year.

Pecker also tipped off Trump’s then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen that year about the fact that porn star Stormy Daniels was looking to go public about her account of having a one-time sexual tryst with Trump in 2006.

Cohen later paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 to buy her silence. That payment, and the way that the Trump Organization classified Trump’s reimbursement to Cohen as “legal expenses,” is known to be the subject of at least part of Thursday’s indictment.

Pecker testified to the grand jury in late January, right as it began its work. He then returned to testify a second time Monday.

— Dan Mangan

The New York Police Department has seen “no credible threats” to the city after the indictment of Trump.

The NYPD since last week has had mobilization plans prepared for the potential of criminal charges being filed against the ex-president, who is due to appear in state court in lower Manhattan on Tuesday for arraignment in the case.

“The mayor is in constant contact with [NYPD] Commissioner [Keechant] Sewell about all public safety issues affecting the city,” said Fabien Levy, the spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams, in a statement.

“The NYPD continues to monitor all activity and there are no credible threats to the city at this time,” Levy said. “The NYPD always remains prepared to respond to events happening on the ground and keep New Yorkers safe.”

— Dan Mangan

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office told several congressional committees in a new letter that Trump and congressional Republicans may not “interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State.”

That clap back from Bragg’s general counsel reiterated that the office will not comply with any request from Republican-led committees in the House to get information about its investigation and criminal charging of Trump.

“Like any other defendant, Mr. Trump is entitled to challenge these charges in court and avail himself of all processes and protections that New York State’s robust criminal procedure affords,” wrote Leslie Dubeck, the general counsel.

But Dubeck wrote that the committees seeking information about the probe “lack jurisdiction to oversee a state criminal prosecution.”

In the letter, the general counsel called the requests “an unprecedented and illegitimate incursion on New York’s sovereign interests.”

“Even worse, based on your reportedly close collaboration with Mr. Trump in attacking this Office and the grand jury process, it appears you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective,” Dubeck wrote.

— Dan Mangan

President Joe Biden refused Friday — again and again — to comment on the indictment of Trump, his predecessor in the White House, and potentially his opponent in next year’s presidential election.

Reporters asked Biden repeatedly about the unprecedented lodging of criminal charges against Trump, but each time he gave an identical response.

“I have no comment on Trump,” Biden said.

The White House on Thursday made clear it would not weigh in on the indictment after news of it broke in the late afternoon.

Trump faces three other major criminal probes. Two of them are being conducted by the Department of Justice, which is investigating Trump for his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, in addition to his retention of government documents at his Florida residence as federal officials sought their return.

A state prosecutor in Atlanta is investigating Trump and multiple allies of his for potentially criminal interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

— Dan Mangan

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wanted Trump to surrender to his office a day after Thursday’s indictment, the former president’s lawyer told NBC News.

The attorney, Joseph Tacopina, says he nixed that idea, telling Bragg that the U.S. Secret Service, which protects Trump, needed more time to prepare for him to travel to New York and be booked in the criminal case.

The Secret Service has denied that claim by Tacopina, NBC reported.

Sources said Trump’s protective detail could be set to travel with him to New York at a moment’s notice, and that they will do so for Tuesday’s scheduled appearance in Manhattan court.

— Dan Mangan