MANHATTAN, N.Y. (WABC) — There was former President Donald Trump indicted Thursday by a grand jury in Lower Manhattan for hush-hush payments made on his behalf to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Prosecutors appear to have asked the grand jury to vote on Trump’s indictment when they reconvene at 2 p.m. Thursday.
The indictment was presented just before the closing of the court. The indictment will remain sealed until Trump is indicted.
WATCH | Witness coverage of the Trump impeachment
Here are the latest updates:
Trump expects capitulation in New York early next week: Sources
The former president is expected to surrender in New York early next week, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
​​​​​​While a day has not been set, sources say Tuesday is the day being discussed by Trump’s legal team and the DA’s office.
Prosecutors contacted Trump’s lawyer to ‘coordinate his surrender’
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said in a statement that it had contacted former President Donald Trump’s lawyer “to coordinate his surrender” to charges in the state Supreme Court indictment, noting that it remains sealed.
“Instructions will be given when an indictment date is selected,” the office said.
NYPD officers will be deployed across the city on Friday
Following the indictment, all New York Police Department officers were ordered to report in uniform Friday morning for deployment to New York City, police told ABC News.
According to the mayor’s office, there are no threats.
Trump’s impeachment marks an unprecedented moment in presidential history
The indictment of Donald Trump marks an unprecedented event in the country’s history – the first time a former president has been held criminally liable.
Historians say that after Richard Nixon, there was no real prospect of a commander-in-chief being formally charged with a crime, although Nixon avoided that fate after being pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford.
Trump calls ABC News allegation ‘an attack on our country’
Former President Donald Trump told ABC News by phone that the indictment was “an attack on our country.”
He called it “political persecution,” adding that “they are trying to influence the election.”
Trump in a statement on Thursday called himself “a completely innocent person” who is facing “an act of obvious interference in the election”.
Trump said: “Our movement and our party — united and strong — first we’re going to defeat (Manhattan District Attorney) Alvin Bragg, and then we’re going to defeat Joe Biden, and we’re going to oust every last one of these sycophants from office. so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
In a statement on Thursday, Trump’s lawyers said: “He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political persecution in court.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., said on his podcast Thursday, “This is gun justice at its worst.”
WATCH | ABC News’ full special report on Trump’s impeachment
In bringing the charges, the Manhattan district attorney is handling an unusual case that was investigated by two previous sets of prosecutors, both of whom declined to take the politically explosive step of seeking Trump’s indictment.
In the weeks before the indictment, Trump criticized the investigation on social media and called on supporters to protest on his behalf, prompting heightened security around the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.
ABC News contributed to this report
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