Former President Donald Trump is set to be arraigned sometime “early next week” after a Manhattan grand jury voted for his indictment, Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina said on Thursday.
“We’re working that out—maybe Tuesday,” Tacopina, who has represented high-profile clients such as Michael Jackson and rapper Jay-Z, told The Epoch Times in an interview late Thursday.
“I’ve spoken to him,” Tacopina said when asked about Trump’s reaction to the indictment. “He’s angry, disappointed, but he’s ready to fight. He’s a pretty tough guy—his knees don’t buckle, so he’ll be ready to go.”
A grand jury on Thursday voted for Trump’s indictment, Tacopina confirmed with The Epoch Times. That makes Trump the first former president to face criminal charges in the history of the United States.
The indictment against Trump was a major development in a probe launched by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into an alleged payment from Trump to adult entertainment actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, saying he’s a victim of extortion.
Legal experts have commented that the prosecutor’s criminal case likely centers on whether Trump documented that payment as false business records in the Trump Organization.
A spokesperson for the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement that it is now coordinating with Trump’s attorneys his “surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment.”
The White House told The Epoch Times it has no comment on the indictment. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement: “Mr. Trump is subject to the same laws as every American.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) pledged to hold Bragg to account.
‘Days of Dictatorships’
According to Tacopina, Trump’s indictment echoes the means political opponents have used against each other under dictatorships.
“This harkens back to the days of dictatorships—Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and communist China—where you pick a political opponent you don’t like and you want to do away with him, you find a crime,” Tacopina said. “That’s what happened here.”
By Gary Bai
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