With NBC News
Now the country awaits more details on what charges exactly Trump faces in the New York hush money case — and when he will head to Manhattan to turn himself in.
The indictment against Trump is not expected to be unsealed Friday, Nbc News reported. But the ex-president faces about 30 criminal counts of document fraud, according to NBC.
Trump’s attorney and the Manhattan district attorney’s office have arranged the former president’s surrender in the coming days. He is expected to be arraigned in New York on Tuesday, though the timing could change, according to Nbc News.
The New York Police Department is reinforcing security in the city, though it said it has not seen “credible threats” following Trump’s indictment. The former president last week issued an ominous warning that violence could flare up if he was charged.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, in contrast to some of her Republican colleagues in Congress, did not condemn a Manhattan prosecutor for getting a grand jury to indict Trump.
“I am monitoring Donald Trump’s legal situation as it unfolds,”
Murkowski said in a statement.
“No one is above the law in this country, but everyone deserves a fair legal process,”
she said.
Murkowski was one of just seven Republicans in the Senate who voted to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial. In that case, Trump was accused of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
In the Manhattan case, Trump is charged with a slew of crimes related to a hush money payout to a porn star in 2016.
“The indictment of a former President is unprecedented and must be handled with the utmost integrity and scrutiny,”
Murkowski said.
“Instead of rushing to individual judgment, we must also evaluate the evidence as it becomes available and use it to inform our opinions and statements about what is actually happening,”
she said.
A slim majority of American voters approve of former president Donald Trump being indicted by a New York grand jury, according to a new Morning Consult poll.
The survey, which was taken the day after Trump was indicted, shows that 51% of participants approved of indictment. That slim majority was “driven by 83% of Democrats and 49% of independents,” according to Morning Consult.
Meanwhile, 70% of GOP primary voters that were polled disapprove of the indictment. Another key to the poll was whether the indictment was backed by evidence or more so related to political motivations.
“While 46% of voters think the grand jury’s decision was primarily informed by evidence that Trump committed a crime, another 43% say the overriding cause for its conclusion was motivation to damage the former president’s political career,” Morning Consult says. “The latter sentiment is held by 78% of potential GOP primary voters.”
Law enforcement authorities do not plan to place Trump in handcuffs, put him into a holding cell, or take a mug shot of him when he is booked before arraignment Tuesday in a Manhattan courthouse.
But Trump will be fingerprinted, officials familiar with the planning told NBC News.
Officials said the current plan calls for Trump to arrive Monday evening at La Guardia Airport in Queens, and then he is expected to be driven to his residence at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Nbc reported.
On Tuesday morning, he will be driven downtown to the Manhattan Supreme Court, and taken directly to the 15th floor of the courthouse for arraignment.
All other courtrooms in the Supreme Court sections of the courthouse will be adjourned in the afternoon to reduce the number of people around the area.
