The news is breaking as I write this. Former President Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. Trump is the first former president to ever face criminal charges. The charges are not yet known. We do know that the case focused on the $130,000 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. In the 2016 campaign, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels and he alleges the agreement with Trump was that Trump was to reimburse him for the payment.

History changes forever with this indictment. From now on, the history books will reflect this action. He is running for the presidency for a third time and this changes the landscape of 2024. Alvin Bragg’s office will now have to work out an agreement with Trump’s lawyers for him to go to Manhattan and surrender. He will face fingerprinting and his mug shot will be taken, just like any other person. He will face arraignment. The specific charges will be announced at his arraignment.

What does this do, legally, for Trump’s run for president? Nothing. It raises legal and political questions as he runs for the Republican nomination for president but it does not stop him from running. There is no constitutional criteria for a presidential candidate to have a clean criminal record. Remember, the Senate acquitted Trump at both of his impeachment trials.

According to NYT reporter Maggie Haberman:

Trump is at Mar-a-Lago absorbing this information, according to aides. It’s not clear what his next move will be. Trump aides were caught off guard by this happening today, according to several people close to the former president. They had believed reports by some news outlets that the grand jury in Manhattan was not hearing the Trump case. Some advisers had been confident that there would be no movement until the end of April at the earliest and were looking at the political implications for Trump’s closest potential rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

No one was given a heads-up before the news of an indictment broke. Trump, however, has been talking about an indictment coming or more than a week. He said he expected it.

White House officials declined to comment

Trump’s statement came into Fox News Channel during Bret Baier’s Special Report show. I typed it out as Brett read it on air.

This is political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history. From the time I came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the radical left Democrats, the enemy of the hard-working men and women of this country have been engaged in a witch hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement. You remember it just like I do. Russia, Russia, Russia, the Mueller hoax, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, impeachment hoax one, impeachment hoax two, illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid, and now this.

The Democrats have lied, cheated, and stolen in their obsession with trying to get Trump. But now they have done the unthinkable indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant election interference. Never before in our nation’s history has this been done? The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing the justice system to punish a political opponent who just so happens to be a president of the United States and my far the leading Republican candidate for president has never happened before ever. Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace.

Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he is doing Joe Biden’s dirty work ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on. This is how Bragg spends his time. I believe this witchhunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden when the people realize what the radical left is doing here. Everyone can see it. So our movement and our party, united and strong, will first defeat Alvin Bragg and then we will defeat Joe Biden and we will throw every last one of these crooked Democrats out of office so we can Make America Great Again.

Full statement pic.twitter.com/Y62m7S8Mmx

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 30, 2023

We don’t know what we don’t know right now. We will have to wait to see what the indictment says.

This is a developing story. We will update as needed.

Update (Ed): As Hugh Hewitt writes, we don’t actually know yet what the indictment contains:

The indictment is sealed. It is highly unlikely to persuade anyone who isn’t already ready to convict the former president for anything using any evidence and theory, but best to hold opinions on its merits until, perhaps, you can at least pretend to know what’s in it?

— Hugh Hewitt (@hughhewitt) March 30, 2023

I’m wondering whether it’s focused on Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, or maybe both. It’s wise advice, although I don’t see either case as being sustainable in court, not even in New York.