Politics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman has been discharged from hospital where he was treated for weeks for depression, his office said on Friday, adding he will return to the Senate mid-April.

Fetterman’s depression is now in remission, his office said, citing a doctor.

The return of Fetterman, who flipped a Republican-held seat in last November’s midterm elections, will be good news for Democrats, who hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington)

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By Ross Kerber

(Reuters) -Republican attorneys general from 21 U.S. states raised fresh concerns with asset managers over their consideration for environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in the votes cast at U.S. corporate annual meetings getting under way this spring.

The top state legal officers issued their challenge via a letter, provided by the office of Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen on Friday, sent to 53 of the largest U.S. fund firms including BlackRock Inc and the asset-management arms of State Street Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The letter marks the latest salvo in a growing political battle over what had been a quiet corner of finance.

Companies and investors increasingly consider factors like climate change and workforce diversity, which they say can affect company performance and reputation. The approach has received backing from Democratic leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, who recently used his first veto to defend a rule on ESG investing.

Meanwhile, Republicans, many from energy-producing states, have raised a growing chorus of challenges on ESG. The latest letter built on concerns many of the same attorneys general brought to BlackRock last August.

In the new letter, dated March 30, the attorneys general told the asset managers that “many of you have committed to take actions inconsistent with your clients’ financial interests,” such as by joining groups like the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, which encourages members to help reduce global emissions.

This can be a problem for fund participants who do not share ESG goals, the Republicans wrote. “As far as we can tell, your non-ESG funds do not disclose to investors that their investments will be used to further ESG goals, including pressuring companies to reduce emissions in economically destructive ways,” the letter states.

Asset managers have argued that such memberships align with their fiduciary obligations, and some are giving clients more control over proxy votes.

BlackRock and State Street did not comment. JPMorgan declined to comment.

Another section of the Republicans’ letter describes several pending shareholder resolutions as “pushing three companies to stop using Vanguard” as their default retirement plan and noting Vanguard’s fossil fuel investments.

“Asset managers voting for the exclusion of one of their competitors has clear antitrust implications,” the letter states.

A representative for Knudsen said Pennsylvania-based Vanguard, the top U.S. mutual fund manager, was not among the recipients of the letter, because it had withdrawn from the Net Zero group, the rare fund manager to do so.

Vanguard did not comment.

The resolutions were filed by activist shareholder group As You Sow, which the Republicans suggested had targeted Vanguard over its withdrawal. As You Sow President Danielle Fugere said that was not correct as the group had filed similar resolutions last year, before Vanguard’s December action.

Fugere also said the letter mischaracterizes the resolutions, since they only ask for companies to issue reports on how they are protecting plan beneficiaries with long-term investment horizons from climate risk.

The attorney general’s letter, Fugere said, “seems geared to chill asset manager votes.”

(Reporting by Ross Kerber. Additional reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Richard Chang)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman has been discharged from hospital where he was treated for weeks for depression, his office said on Friday, adding he will return to the Senate mid-April.

Fetterman’s depression is now in remission, his office said in a statement, citing a doctor.

The return of Fetterman, who flipped a Republican-held seat in last November’s midterm elections, will be good news for Democrats, who hold a narrow 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Fetterman had checked into a Washington-area hospital for treatment for clinical depression in mid-February. He had also suffered a near-fatal stroke months before his election win.

When Fetterman was admitted for clinical depression in mid-February, he had severe symptoms of depression with low energy and motivation, minimal speech, poor sleep, slowed thinking, slowed movement, feelings of guilt and worthlessness, but no suicidal ideation, the doctor cited in the statement issued by Fetterman’s office said.

Over the preceding eight weeks, his symptoms worsened and Fetterman stopped eating and taking fluids, causing him to develop low blood pressure, the doctor, David Williamson, said.

During the course of his treatment, his condition improved as his sleep was restored and he began eating well, the doctor said, adding Fetterman was also identified with mild to moderate hearing loss and was fitted with hearing aids.

Known for his large tattooed frame, goatee and penchant for hoodies and shorts, Fetterman gained a national profile for his progressive positions. The former Pennsylvania lieutenant governor beat Republican celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz by a large margin in November’s elections to replace former Republican Senator Pat Toomey, who retired.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke last May and later acknowledged he had “almost died,” has faced challenges adjusting to life in the Senate during his recovery.

Since the stroke, he has suffered lingering problems with his ability to speak and process the speech he hears.

During the course of Fetterman’s depression treatment, his speech abilities also improved as he worked with speech-language specialists, his office said on Friday.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers reintroduced a bill to allow news organizations to join together to negotiate ad rates with tech giants such as Alphabet Inc’s Google.

The measure would allow news broadcasters and publishers with fewer than 1,500 full-time workers to jointly negotiate ad rates — many of which face financial struggles. One of the biggest of the companies placing online ads for advertisers is Google.

News organizations have complained for years they are not sufficiently compensated for readers that their content attracts.

The bill was also introduced in the last Congress but failed to become law.

The bill was introduced by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, along with Senator John Kennedy, a Republican.

The News/Media Alliance, a media trade association, praised the bill it says will protect and sustain local journalism. “Emerging technologies such as AI are making it even more clear the need for compensation when content creators may soon see even less return than what they receive today,” the group said.

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the proposal.

Previously, Google said that its ad revenue and licensing fees provides needed revenue to news organizations, and that its search engine sends readers to publishers’ websites billions of times per month.

While in December, Facebook parent Meta Platforms threatened to remove news if Congress had approved the journalism competition measure.

Other co-sponsors include Democratic Senators Dick Durbin, Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Joe Manchin and Cory Booker along with Republican Senators Steve Daines, Bill Cassidy, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Cynthia Lummis, and Roger Wicker.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; additional reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

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By Karen Freifeld, Luc Cohen and Tyler Clifford

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump is due to be fingerprinted and photographed in a New York courthouse next week as he becomes the first ex-president to face criminal charges, in a case involving a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s expected appearance before a judge in Manhattan on Tuesday as the Republican mounts a comeback bid for the presidency could further inflame divisions across the country.

A New York judge on Friday authorized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to make the charges public, but it was not clear when he would do so.

For nearly two weeks, Trump has been using the legal threats he confronts to raise money and rally supporters as he seeks his party’s nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden next year.

The first U.S. president to try to overthrow an election defeat, inspiring the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, has signaled he will continue to campaign even as he faces charges.

“I am not afraid of what’s to come,” he said in a fundraising email on Friday.

The specific charges are not yet known, though CNN reported that Trump faced more than 30 counts related to business fraud.

Susan Necheles, a Trump attorney, told Reuters the former president will plead not guilty.

Another Trump lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said Trump will not have to wear handcuffs at his court appearance and will likely be released without having to post bail.

“He’s ready to fight. He’s gearing up,” Tacopina told Reuters in a phone interview.

Trump, 76, said on Thursday that he was “completely innocent” and accused Bragg, a Democrat, of trying to damage his electoral chances.

PARTISAN BRAWL

Trump’s claims of political interference have been echoed by many of his fellow Republicans and his potential rivals in the 2024 race.

Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, said the charges send a “terrible message” to the world about U.S. justice.

“I’m very troubled by it,” Pence, a possible 2024 candidate, said at a forum in Washington.

Senior Republicans in the House of Representatives have vowed to investigate Bragg and demanded he hand over documents and other confidential material from the investigation.

Bragg said on Friday that Congress does not have authority to interfere with a New York legal proceeding and accused the lawmakers of escalating political tensions. Bragg’s office has been the target of bomb threats in recent weeks.

“You and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges,” Bragg wrote in a letter to Republican lawmakers.

Biden declined to comment on Friday as he left the White House for a trip to storm-ravaged Mississippi.

Trump alleges there are political motivations behind all four criminal investigations he is known to face – including federal probes into his retention of classified documents and attempts to overturn his election defeat, and a separate Georgia probe into his efforts to overturn his loss in that state.

He has also accused Bragg, who is Black, of racial bias.

SECURITY HIGH

Officials have stepped up security around the courthouse since Trump on March 18 called on his supporters to protest any arrest. A law enforcement source said police would close streets around the courthouse ahead of Tuesday’s expected appearance.

On Friday, media outlets were set up outside the courthouse but there was no sign of unrest or protests related to the case.

The Manhattan charges will likely be unsealed by a judge in the coming days and Trump will have to travel there to be photographed, fingerprinted and appear in court, which is expected on Tuesday. Necheles, the Trump lawyer, said she did not expect charges to be unsealed until that day.

Any potential trial is still at least more than a year away, legal experts said, meaning it could occur during or after the presidential campaign.

Trump appealed earlier this month for nationwide protests, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, and warned last week of potential “death & destruction” if he were charged.

“It’s politics. I think they’re just dying to find a way to keep him from being eligible for running for reelection,” Mark Funk, 58, said at a beer garden in Houston.

Some 44% of Republicans said Trump should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

HAS ESCAPED LEGAL PERIL BEFORE

Trump has escaped legal peril numerous times since the 1970s, when he joined his family’s real estate business.

In the White House, he weathered two attempts by Congress to remove him from office and a probe into his campaign’s contacts with Russia in 2016.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office prosecuted Trump’s business on tax-fraud charges last year, leading to a $1.61 million criminal penalty, but Trump himself was not charged.

The presiding judge in that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee the Daniels case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Though it is unclear what specific charges Trump will face, some legal experts have said Bragg might have to rely on untested legal theories to argue that Trump falsified business records to cover up other crimes, such as violating federal campaign-finance law.

Ahead of the indictment, the grand jury heard months of evidence about an alleged $130,000 payment to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 campaign.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she received money in exchange for keeping silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had a sexual relationship with him.

Trump has denied having affairs with either woman and initially disputed knowing anything about the payments. He later acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for what he called a “simple private transaction.”

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

(This story has been refiled to add the dropped word ‘said’ in paragraph 25)

(Additional reporting by Tim Reid, Doina Chiacu and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)

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(Reuters) -New York prosecutors took a historic step on Thursday by filing criminal charges against Donald Trump, the first time this has happened to a former U.S. president.

The decision by the Manhattan District Attorney to charge Trump for hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, during his 2016 campaign, is just one of the many probes facing the Republican as he makes another run at the White House.

GEORGIA ELECTION TAMPERING PROBE

A prosecutor in the state of Georgia is investigating Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat in that state.

The investigation focuses in part on a phone call Trump made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, on Jan. 2, 2021. Trump asked Raffensperger to “find” enough votes needed to overturn Trump’s election loss in Georgia.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney and a Democrat who will ultimately decide whether to pursue charges against Trump or anyone else, told a judge on Jan. 24 that a special grand jury had completed its investigation task and that decisions were “imminent.”

Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties.

Trump could argue that his discussions were constitutionally protected free speech.

U.S. CAPITOL ATTACK

The U.S. Justice Department has investigations under way into both Trump’s actions in the 2020 election and his retention of highly classified documents after departing the White House in 2021.

Both investigations are being overseen by Jack Smith, a war crimes prosecutor and political independent. Trump has accused the FBI, without evidence, of launching the probes as political retribution.

A special House of Representatives committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol urged the Justice Department to charge Trump with corruption of an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to make a false statement and inciting or aiding an insurrection.

Only the Justice Department can decide whether to charge Trump, who has called the Democratic-led panel’s investigation a politically motivated sham.

MISSING GOVERNMENT RECORDS

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland also appointed Smith to investigate whether Trump improperly retained classified records at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate after he left office in 2021 and then tried to obstruct a federal investigation.

Garland also appointed former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur to investigate the removal of classified records in President Joe Biden’s possession dating to his time as vice president.

It is unlawful to willfully remove or retain classified material.

In Trump’s case, the FBI seized 13,000 documents from Mar-a-Lago in an Aug. 8 search. About 100 documents were marked classified; some were designated top secret, the highest level of classification.

Trump has accused the Justice Department of engaging in a partisan witch hunt.

NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL CIVIL LAWSUIT

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and his Trump Organization last September for fraud.

James said her office found more than 200 examples of misleading asset valuations between 2011 and 2021, and that Trump inflated his net worth by billions of dollars.

The attorney general said the scheme was intended to help Trump obtain lower interest rates on loans and better insurance coverage.

She also said her probe uncovered evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and referred it to federal prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service.

The civil lawsuit seeks to permanently bar Trump and three of his adult children from running companies in New York state, and recoup at least $250 million obtained through fraud.

Trump, a Republican, has called James’ lawsuit a witch hunt, and the defendants have called the claims meritless. James is a Democrat.

A New York judge ordered an independent monitor to oversee the Trump Organization before the scheduled October 2023 trial.

DEFAMATION LAWSUITS

E. Jean Carroll, a former Elle magazine columnist, has filed two lawsuits accusing Trump of defaming her by denying he raped her in New York’s Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room in late 1995 or early 1996.

Carroll first sued Trump after he told a reporter at the White House in 2019 that he did not know Carroll, that “she’s not my type,” and that she lied to drum up sales for her memoir.

The second lawsuit arose from an October 2022 social media post where Trump called the rape claim a “hoax,” “lie,” “con job” and “complete scam.”

That lawsuit includes a battery claim under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, which gave adults a one-year window to sue their alleged attackers even if statutes of limitations have expired.

Trump and Carroll are awaiting a decision from a Washington, D.C., appeals court on whether, under local law, Trump should be immune from Carroll’s first lawsuit.

The second lawsuit could go to trial on April 25, after a U.S. judge in January called Trump’s bid to dismiss it “absurd.”

(Reporting by Joseph Ax, Luc Cohen, Karen Freifeld, Sarah N. Lynch, Jonathan Stempel and Jacqueline Thomsen; Editing by Howard Goller, Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)

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By Karen Freifeld, Luc Cohen and Tyler Clifford

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump is due to be fingerprinted and photographed in a New York courthouse next week as he becomes the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges in a case involving a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s expected appearance before a judge in Manhattan on Tuesday, as the Republican mounts a bid to regain the presidency, could further inflame divisions in the United States. A New York judge on Friday authorized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, to make the charges public, but it was not clear when he would do so.

For nearly two weeks, Trump has been using the various legal threats he confronts to raise money and rally supporters as he seeks his party’s nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden next year.

The first U.S. president to try to overthrow an election defeat, inspiring the deadly 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, has signaled he will continue to campaign even as he faces charges.

“I am not afraid of what’s to come,” Trump said in a fundraising email on Friday.

Trump has called himself “completely innocent.”

Biden, who defeated Trump in 2020, on Friday declined to comment on the indictment as he left the White House for a trip to storm-ravaged Mississippi.

After word surfaced on Thursday that Trump had been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, he called himself the victim of political persecution.

The specific charges are not yet known, though CNN reported that Trump faced more than 30 counts related to business fraud.

Susan Necheles, a Trump attorney, told Reuters he will plead not guilty.

Another Trump lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said Trump will not have to wear handcuffs at his court appearance and will likely be released without having to post bail.

“He’s ready to fight. He’s gearing up,” Tacopina said in a phone interview.

The charges will likely be unsealed by a judge in the coming days and Trump will have to travel to Manhattan for the court appearance expected on Tuesday. Necheles said she did not expect charges to be unsealed until that day.

Any potential trial is still at least more than a year away, legal experts said, meaning it could occur during or after the presidential campaign.

PARTISAN BRAWL

Trump, 76, has accused Bragg of trying to damage his electoral chances. Trump’s claims have been echoed by many of his fellow Republicans and his potential rivals in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president and a possible 2024 candidate, said the charges send a “terrible message” to the world about U.S. justice.

“I’m very troubled by it,” Pence said at a forum in Washington.

Ahead of the indictment, the grand jury heard months of evidence about a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

“It’s vindication,” Daniels told the Times of London. “He’s done so much worse that he should have been taken down (for) before.”

Senior House of Representatives Republicans have vowed to investigate Bragg and demanded he hand over documents and other confidential material from the investigation. Bragg said Congress does not have authority to interfere with a New York legal proceeding and accused the lawmakers of escalating political tensions. Bragg’s office has been the target of bomb threats in recent weeks.

“You and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges,” Bragg wrote in a letter to Republican lawmakers.

Aside from this case, Trump faces two federal criminal investigations into his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Trump also faces a separate Georgia investigation into his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in that state.

SECURITY HIGH

Officials have stepped up security around the courthouse in New York since Trump on March 18 called on his supporters to protest any arrest. A law enforcement source said police would close streets around the courthouse ahead of Tuesday’s expected appearance.

On Friday, media outlets were set up outside the courthouse but there was no sign of unrest or protests related to the case.

Trump appealed earlier this month for nationwide protests, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, and warned last week of potential “death & destruction” if he were charged.

Outside Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a small group of people waved “Trump Nation” flags and cheered as cars passed by.

“I think he’s going to get more votes now because people will maybe wake up,” said Eve Knapp, a Trump supporter.

Merchandise vendor Ronald Solomon said sales of Trump-themed hats and t-shirts were up sharply after the charges were announced.

Some 44% of Republicans said Trump should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

LEGAL PERIL

Trump has escaped legal peril numerous times since the 1970s, when he joined his family’s real estate business.

In the White House, he weathered an investigation into his 2016 campaign’s contacts with Russia and two attempts in Congress to remove him from office.

Bragg’s office prosecuted Trump’s business on tax-fraud charges last year, leading to a $1.61 million criminal penalty, but Trump himself was not charged.

The presiding judge in that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee the Daniels case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Some legal experts have said Bragg might have to rely on untested legal theories to argue that Trump falsified business records to cover up other crimes, such as violating federal campaign-finance law.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having had sexual relationships with either woman, but has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

(Additional reporting by Tim Reid, Alexandra Ulmer, Doina Chiacu and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)

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By Karen Freifeld, Luc Cohen and Tyler Clifford

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury after a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, becoming the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges even as he makes another run for the White House.

The specific charges are not yet known, as the indictment remains under seal. CNN on Thursday reported Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud.

Trump said he was “completely innocent” and indicated he would not drop out of the 2024 presidential race. He accused Bragg, a Democrat, of trying to hurt his chances of winning re-election against Democratic President Joe Biden.

“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” he said in a statement.

Shortly after, Trump appealed to supporters to provide money for a legal defense. He has raised over $2 million, according to his campaign, since he incorrectly predicted on March 18 that he would be arrested four days later.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination according to polling, received support from a number of his potential challengers on Thursday including Florida Governor Ron Desantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.

“This will only further serve to divide our country,” Pence said.

While the White House did not comment, Democrats said Trump was not immune from the rule of law.

“I encourage both Mr. Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law,” said the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer.

The charges will likely be unsealed by a judge in the coming days. Trump will have to travel to Manhattan for fingerprinting and other processing at that point.

Bragg’s office said it had contacted Trump’s attorney to coordinate a surrender, which a court official said would likely occur next Tuesday.

Trump’s lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina said they will “vigorously fight” the charges.

The Manhattan investigation is one of several legal challenges facing Trump.

Bragg successfully prosecuted Trump’s business last year on tax-fraud charges, leading to a $1.61 million criminal penalty.

The presiding judge in that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee this case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Trump could use the case to stoke anger among his core supporters, though other Republican voters might tire of the drama. Some 44% of Republicans said he should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

Outside the courthouse, several protesters silently held signs criticizing Trump. Authorities bolstered security around the courthouse after Trump called for nationwide protests on March 18, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

HUSH MONEY

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she received money in exchange for keeping silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had a sexual relationship with him. Trump has denied having affairs with either woman.

Trump in 2018 initially disputed knowing anything about the payment to Daniels. He later acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment, which he called a “simple private transaction.”

“No one is above the law,” Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster said on Twitter.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

Cohen said he stood by his testimony and the evidence he provided to prosecutors. “Accountability matters,” he said in a statement.

No former or sitting U.S. president has ever faced criminal charges.

Aside from this case, Trump faces two criminal investigations by a special counsel appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and another criminal probe by a local prosecutor in Georgia.

Trump has escaped legal peril numerous times. In the White House, he weathered two attempts by Congress to remove him from office, including for the Jan. 6, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, as well as a years-long probe into his campaign’s contacts with Russia in 2016.

In last year’s tax-fraud trial, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office targeted Trump’s business but declined to charge Trump himself with financial crimes.

In the hush-money case, legal experts say Bragg is expected to argue Trump falsified business records to cover up another crime, such as violating federal campaign-finance law, which makes it a felony.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Karen Freifeld, additional reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Noeleen Walder, Daniel Wallis, Cynthia Osterman and Lincoln Feast.)

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(Reuters) – Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury after a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, becoming the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.

The charges from an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg come as Trump seeks the Republican nomination to run again in 2024.

Below is reaction to news of the indictment:

TRUMP IN A STATEMENT SAID HE WAS “COMPLETELY INNOCENT”:

“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”

FLORIDA GOVERNOR AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGER FOR THE 2024 REPUBLICAN NOMINATION RON DESANTIS ON TWITTER:

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American,” he wrote.

“Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances…”

TRUMP’S FORMER VICE PRESIDENT AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGER FOR THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION MIKE PENCE ON CNN:

“I think this is an outrage but I also think at a time when the American people are struggling so much, that this will only further serve to divide our country.”

U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER CHUCK SCHUMER, A DEMOCRAT, IN A STATEMENT:

“Mr. Trump is subject to the same laws as every American. He will be able to avail himself of the legal system and a jury, not politics, to determine his fate according to the facts and the law.”

“I encourage both Mr. Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law.”

TRUMP’S FORMER U.N. AMBASSADOR AND CANDIDATE FOR THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION NIKKI HALEY ON TWITTER:

“This is more about revenge than it is about justice.”

TRUMP’S FORMER LAWYER RUDY GIULIANI ON TWITTER:

“The 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, has been indicted by a Grand Jury in New York following District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s irresponsible and politically-motivated efforts to take him down. A sad day for America.”

FORMER U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI, A DEMOCRAT, IN A STATEMENT:

“The Grand Jury has acted upon the facts and the law.  No one is above the law, and everyone has the right to a trial to prove innocence.  Hopefully, the former President will peacefully respect the system, which grants him that right.”

DEMOCRATIC U.S. REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF ON TWITTER:

“The indictment of a former president is unprecedented. But so too is the unlawful conduct in which Trump has been engaged. A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office. Especially when they do. To do otherwise is not democracy.”

MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER LAWYER TO TRUMP, ON MSNBC:

“Today’s indictment is not the end of the chapter, it is just the beginning … Accountability really matters.”

REPUBLICAN U.S. SENATOR TED CRUZ ON TWITTER:

“The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage. This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.”

(Compiled by Costas Pitas and Anna Driver)

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By Karen Freifeld, Luc Cohen and Tyler Clifford

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump, the ex-president and frontrunner to be Republican nominee in 2024, is set to face a mug shot, finger-printing and a court appearance next week after being indicted over a probe into hush money paid to a porn star in an historic U.S. first.

The possible spectacle of Trump’s appearance in Manhattan before a judge with media camped outside could further divide the world’s most powerful country.

The specific charges against Trump are not yet known as the indictment remains under seal, but CNN on Thursday reported Trump faced more than 30 counts related to business fraud.

Trump, 76, said he was “completely innocent” and accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the Democrat who led the investigation, of trying to hurt his electoral chances.

“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” Trump said in a statement.

Shortly after, Trump appealed to supporters to provide money for a legal defense.

He has raised over $2 million since March 18, according to his campaign, and called for people to protest.

A small number of supporters rallied at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida on Thursday, waving flags along the highway, while a critic of the former president held a sign near the New York DA’s office reading: “Lock him up and throw away the key”.

Authorities bolstered security around the Manhattan courthouse after Trump earlier this month called for nationwide protests, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Neither the White House nor President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is widely expected to seek re-election in a possible rematch against Trump, commented on Thursday.

But the party’s top senator, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, called for matters to play out calmly.

“I encourage both Mr. Trump’s critics and supporters to let the process proceed peacefully and according to the law,” he said in a statement.

LEGAL BATTLES

The Manhattan investigation is just one of several legal challenges concerning Trump.

Trump also faces a separate criminal probe into whether he unlawfully tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat in Georgia, and two investigations by a special counsel including over his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

The Manhattan charges will likely be unsealed by a judge in the coming days and Trump will have to travel there for fingerprinting and other processing at that point.

He is expected to appear before a judge next week where the charges will be formally read, according to a court official.

Trump’s lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina said they will “vigorously fight” the charges.

Trump received support from a number of his potential challengers for the Republican nomination on Thursday including Florida Governor Ron Desantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.

“This will only further serve to divide our country,” Pence said.

Trump could use the case to stoke anger among his core supporters, though other Republican voters might tire of the drama.

Some 44% of Republicans said he should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

AFFAIRS ALLEGED

While president between 2017 and 2021, Trump regularly butted heads and used fiery rhetoric with traditional American allies in the West over matters such as trade and defense spending.

Trump’s style has been emulated by other world leaders, and he has been critical of U.S. support for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

Trump has escaped legal peril numerous times.

In the White House, he weathered two attempts by Congress to remove him from office, over the U.S. Capitol assault by supporters and probe into his campaign’s contacts with Russia in 2016.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office successfully prosecuted Trump’s business on tax-fraud charges last year, leading to a $1.61 million criminal penalty.

The presiding judge in that case, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, is expected to oversee the Daniels case as well, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Legal experts say Bragg is expected to argue Trump falsified business records to cover up another crime, such as violating federal campaign-finance law, which makes it a felony.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she received money in exchange for keeping silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also said she had a sexual relationship with him.

Trump has denied having affairs with either woman.

Trump in 2018 initially disputed knowing anything about the payment to Daniels. He later acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment, which he called a “simple private transaction.”

“No one is above the law,” Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster said on Twitter.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

Cohen said he stood by his testimony and the evidence he provided to prosecutors.

“Accountability matters,” he said in a statement.

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Costas Pitas; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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