Video Duration 28 minutes 25 seconds 28:25

It is an unprecedented moment in the history of the United States – one that is fraught with legal uncertainties and political implications.

Former President Donald Trump has been charged in connection with the mishandling of classified documents. It is the first federal, criminal indictment of a US president, and now the nation is heading into uncharted territory – a year before a presidential election.

Trump has called the indictment an abuse of power and an attempt to keep him out of the White House.

But what does it mean for the US and the future of its democracy?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Eric Ham – Author of The GOP Civil War: Inside the Battle for the Soul of the Republican Party and a former US congressional staffer

Debbie Hines – Former assistant attorney general of Maryland and a former Baltimore prosecutor

Thomas Gift – Associate professor and founding director of the Centre on US Politics at University College London

The former US president blasts federal indictment as ‘a political hit job’ as he rallies support at Republican conventions.

Former United States President Donald Trump has criticised his federal indictment by the Department of Justice as “ridiculous” and “baseless” during his first public appearances since the charges were unsealed, painting the 37 felony counts as an attack on his supporters.

Speaking at Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina on Saturday, Trump cast the indictment as an attempt to damage his chances of returning to the White House as he campaigns for a second term.

“They’ve launched one witch-hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” Trump alleged in Georgia, later telling the crowd, “In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you.”

The indictment unsealed on Friday afternoon charges Trump with willfully defying Justice Department demands that he return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records, as well as telling his lawyers that he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his residence.

The indictment includes allegations that he stored documents in a ballroom and a toilet at his Mar-a-Lago resort, among other places.

Trump is due to make his first federal court appearance on Tuesday in Miami.

‘I’ll never leave’

Trump remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican Party nomination despite his mounting legal woes, which include criminal charges filed against him in March in New York.

Trump said he will remain in the race even if he is convicted.

“I’ll never leave,” he told US-based news site Politico in an interview on board his plane after his speech in Georgia. He also predicted that he would not be convicted and sidestepped questions about whether he would pardon himself if he won a second term.

Trump was given a hero’s welcome at the party convention in Georgia, where he drew loud applause as he slammed the investigation as “a political hit job” and accused his political enemies of launching “one hoax and witch hunt after another” to prevent his re-election.

“The ridiculous and baseless indictment by the Biden administration’s weaponised Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” he said.

He also used his remarks to rail against President Joe Biden and his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, accusing them of mishandling classified information and insisting he was treated unfairly because he is a Republican.

Trump also lingered on Georgia’s role in his 2020 defeat, repeating unfounded claims that he had won the state and defending his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory, which is the subject of another ongoing investigation, this one by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Willis has suggested that any indictments would likely come in August.

At the heart of the investigation is a recorded phone conversation in which Trump urges Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” – just enough to overtake Biden and overturn Trump’s narrow loss in the state.

Trump has defended the phone call as “perfect” and, on Saturday, lashed out at Willis and the special counsel in the Mar-a-Lago case.

He was charged alongside valet Walt Nauta, a personal aide who prosecutors say moved boxes from a storage room to Trump’s residence for him to review and later lied to investigators about the movement.

Nauta travelled with Trump, appearing by his side at a Georgia Waffle House stop where the former president signed autographs, posed for photos and told supporters, “We did absolutely nothing wrong.”

Former President Donald Trump is set to make his first public appearances since his federal indictment, speaking to friendly Republican audiences in Georgia and North Carolina as he tries to rally supporters to his defence.

Trump, who remains the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican Party nomination despite his mounting legal woes, was expected to use speeches at two state party conventions on Saturday to rail against the charges.

The indictment unsealed Friday charged him with 37 felony counts in connection with his hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Trump is accused of willfully defying Department of Justice demands to return classified documents, enlisting aides in his efforts to hide the records, and even telling his lawyers he wanted to defy a subpoena for the materials stored at his residence. The indictment includes allegations that he stored documents in a ballroom and bathroom at his resort, among other places.

The most serious charges carry potential prison sentences of up to 20 years each, but first-time offenders rarely get anywhere near the maximum sentence and the decision would ultimately be up to the judge.

Trump has already responded to the indictment with a string of posts on his Truth Social platform and a video statement, framing the prosecution as election interference orchestrated by President Joe Biden and his campaign.

“They come after me because now we’re leading in the polls again by a lot against Biden,” he said.

Trump can expect a hero’s welcome as he rallies his fiercest partisans and aims to cement his status as his party’s leading presidential candidate.

He arrived on Saturday in Georgia to chants of “Four more years! Four more years!” from supporters waving signs that read, “Witch Hunt”. About 100 eager supporters turned out at Columbus airfield.

Michael Sellers, a 67-year-old Trump backer who came to the airfield, said he’d read the indictment and was aware of the accusations.

“It’s criminal what they’re doing to him,” Sellers said. Asked whether he believes Trump will win another term in 2024, Sellers said, “He won the last time. He will win again.”

‘Defiant’ Trump

Among the various investigations Trump has faced, the documents case has long been considered the most perilous threat and the one most ripe for prosecution.

The federal charging document alleges that Trump not only intentionally possessed classified documents but also boastfully showed them off to visitors and aides. The indictment is built on Trump’s own words and actions as recounted to prosecutors by lawyers, close aides and other witnesses, including his professing to respect and know procedures related to the handling of classified information.

A Trump campaign official described the former president’s mood as “defiant” before the state visits. But aides were notably more reserved after the indictment’s unsealing as they reckoned with the gravity of the legal charges and the threat they pose to Trump beyond the potential short-term political gain.

A ‘dark day’

The indictment arrives at a time when Trump is continuing to dominate the primary race. Other candidates have largely attacked the Department of Justice – rather than Trump – for the investigation. But the indictment’s breadth of allegations and scope could make it harder for Republicans to rail against these charges compared with an earlier New York criminal case that many legal analysts derided as weak.

Trump is set to make his first federal court appearance on Tuesday in Miami. He was charged alongside Walt Nauta, a personal aide whom prosecutors say moved boxes from a storage room to Trump’s residence for him to review and later lied to investigators about the movement. A photograph included in the indictment shows several dozen file boxes stacked in a storage area.

The case has added to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump. In March, he was indicted in New York in a hush-money scheme stemming from payouts made to a porn actor during his 2016 campaign, and he faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that also could lead to criminal charges.

So far, the response of many Republicans – including some of Trump’s party nomination rivals – has been to rally behind the former president and amplify his sense of outrage.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy, who has had a rollercoaster relationship with Trump, said the indictment marked a “dark day” for the United States.

“I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump,” McCarthy said.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, seen as Trump’s most viable challenger for the Republican ticket, echoed the claims of a “weaponised” Department of Justice.

Neither the indictment itself nor a conviction would prevent the ex-US president from running for 2024 election.

Donald Trump’s indictment on 37 counts of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate represents the most serious legal jeopardy so far for the former United States president, coming less than three months after he was charged in New York with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Here’s a look at the charges and the special counsel’s investigation:

What are the charges?

Trump faces 37 counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, according to the indictment unsealed on Friday. The charges include counts of retaining classified information, obstructing justice and making false statements, among other crimes.

Trump is accused of keeping documents related to “nuclear weaponry in the United States” and the “nuclear capabilities of a foreign country,” along with documents from White House intelligence briefings, including some that detail the military capabilities of the US and other countries, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors alleged Trump showed off the documents to people who did not have security clearances to review them and later tried to conceal documents from his own lawyers as they sought to comply with federal demands to find and return them.

The top charges carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

What happens next?

The Justice Department unsealed the indictment on Friday, the first time the department confirmed Trump was being charged with a crime.

Trump is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday in South Florida. It was not immediately clear what the procedure would look like.

Does a federal indictment prevent Trump from running for president?

Trump’s lawyer said he is charged with seven criminal counts including violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and conspiracy. None of those would bar Trump from office if he is convicted.

A trial would take place many months from now, and Trump can freely campaign during this time.

The US Constitution only requires that presidential candidates be natural-born US citizens who are at least 35 years old and have lived in the country for 14 years.

Trump said on Thursday on his Truth Social platform that he is innocent. He would be free to campaign even if he is convicted and sent to prison, and legal experts say there would be no basis to block his swearing-in as president even if he is jailed, though this would pose extraordinary logistical and security questions.

What effect will the case have on Trump’s campaign?

It is unclear what the effect will be on Trump’s standing with voters. Trump’s poll numbers rose after his indictment in March in a separate case in New York, and he is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

And as the New York case showed, criminal charges have historically been a boon to his fundraising. The campaign announced that it had raised at least $4m in the 24 hours after that indictment became public, far smashing its previous record after the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

He has used the cases and investigations he faces as fundraising tools, telling supporters that he is under attack and needs their help. Trump’s campaign said in April that donations surged after he was indicted in New York.

Federal prosecutors in the United States have unsealed a sweeping indictment against former President Donald Trump that alleges he hoarded and concealed classified documents containing sensitive national security information.

The 49-page document laid out 37 federal charges against Trump. Thirty-one of the charges relate to violations under the Espionage Act, which criminalises unauthorised possession of national defence information. Each charge under the act carries a ten-year maximum sentence.

Six other charges pertain to Trump’s alleged scheme to hide the documents as federal authorities launched an investigation. Two more accuse the ex-president of making false statements to investigators.

Trump’s aide, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, was also charged with six felonies related to hiding documents and making false statements.

“Our laws that protect National Defense Information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced,” said Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom the US justice department appointed to oversee the investigation in November.

“Violations of those laws put our country at risk,” he continued, issuing remarks at a brief, three-minute news conference on Friday. “We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone.”

For his part, Trump maintained that he had done nothing wrong. He also attacked prosecutor Smith as a “deranged lunatic”, saying he provided investigators with the materials they asked for.

“I supplied them openly, and without question, security tape from Mar-a-Lago. I had nothing to hide, nor do I now,” the former president wrote on his Truth Social site.

“Nobody said I wasn’t allowed to look at the personal records that I brought with me from the White House. There’s nothing wrong with that,” Trump added.

Indictment sets high stakes

But the indictment unsealed by Department of Justice prosecutors told a very different story.

It alleged that Trump kept boxes that “included information regarding defence and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programmes; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack”.

The indictment also indicated that the contents of those boxes, if released, could have had devastating consequences.

“The unauthorised disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods,” it said.

The prosecutors explained that the documents were haphazardly stored across Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, including in unsecured locations like a bathroom, ballroom and a shower.

One photo released by prosecutors showed documents spilled onto the floor of a storage room that could be “reached from multiple outside entrances, including one accessible from The Mar-a-Lago Club pool patio through a doorway that was often kept open”.

The documents include some with classified markings signalling that they were only to be released to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which consists of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the US.

Alleged attempts to conceal

As federal investigators ratcheted up their probe into the classified documents recovered at Mar-a-Lago, the former president weighed not complying with the order or outright lying, according to the indictment.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?” Trump allegedly said, as recounted to federal investigators by one of his lawyers. “Well look, isn’t it better if there are no documents?”

That exchange came in the wake of a May 2022 subpoena, requiring that Trump turn over any classified documents in his possession.

The indictment further accuses Trump of “causing” his lawyers to falsely certify that Mar-a-Lago had been thoroughly searched and all documents had been located, in accordance with the subpoena.

Furthermore, prosecutors allege, Trump instructed his aide Nauta to move 64 boxes to “conceal them from Trump’s attorney, the FBI and the grand jury”. On Friday, Trump defended Nauta, calling him “strong, brave, and a great patriot”.

Documents revealed to visitors

Prosecutors have also said that Trump took a flippant approach to the classified documents when they were in his possession.

In one instance, Trump allegedly moved some records to his resort in Bedminster, New Jersey. There, he showed “a classified map related to a military operation” to a person who worked for his political action committee, according to the indictment.

He told the visitor that “he should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close”, the indictment said.

In another instance, an audio recording revealed Trump displayed a “highly confidential” military document to a visiting writer and publisher, the indictment said.

“As president, I could have declassified it, and now I can’t, you know, but this is still a secret,” Trump allegedly said. US media has previously reported on the interaction.

Trump’s statement in that instance, however, could prove particularly damning, as the ex-president has maintained he declassified all the documents before leaving office. He has not provided proof, however, that he took action to lower their classification status.

A years-long saga

The unsealed indictment represents the culmination of a years-long saga that began in May 2021, when the National Archives — which maintains presidential documents — demanded that missing records be returned.

Trump’s team turned in 15 boxes by January 2022, with 14 containing classified documents. The National Archives later reported that some of those had been returned ripped apart.

By May 2022, the justice department had issued its subpoena requiring any remaining documents to be surrendered. Ultimately, suspecting further documents remained at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI raided the resort in August, recovering 102 classified records.

Now, the case heads to federal court, where a Trump appointee, Judge Aileen Cannon, has reportedly been tapped to initially oversee the proceedings. She was thrust into the spotlight last year when she issued a decision to appoint a “special master” in the classified documents probe.

Cannon also briefly barred federal agents and prosecutors from reviewing a batch of seized documents, an order that was ultimately thrown out in a scathing opinion by a federal appeals court.

Trump is set to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday, where the secret service was already planning logistics.

Impact on the 2024 race

Trump’s allies and even Republican presidential opponents quickly seized on the revelations in Friday’s indictment, which the former president has called a “witch hunt”.

He has also framed the federal charges as an effort to subvert his candidacy in the 2024 presidential race. Trump is currently polling far ahead of the crowded Republican field.

But many prominent Republicans have stood behind the former president. His top Republican competitor in the 2024 race, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, decried the “weaponisation of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society”.

Top Democrats, meanwhile, rallied around the phrase, “No one is above the law.”

“This indictment must now play out through the legal process, without any outside political or ideological interference,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement.

On Friday, Trump abruptly parted ways with his lawyers, James Trusty and John Rowley, and appointed Todd Blanche — a former federal prosecutor — to lead his defence.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher noted that Trusty had been a “vociferous defender” of Trump and was advocating for him on television networks hours before the announcement.

EXPLAINER

Trump indictment remains sealed, but he is believed to be charged in relation to mishandling of classified documents.

Donald Trump’s indictment on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate has brought renewed attention to one of the most notable cases in the United States justice department’s history.

The federal charges represent the biggest legal jeopardy so far for Trump, coming less than three months after he was charged in New York with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Here’s what you need to know:

What are the charges?

• Trump announced on Thursday night on his social media site Truth Social that justice department lawyers had informed his legal team that he had been indicted. Trump said he is due in court next week.
• The former president has reportedly been charged with seven counts related to the mishandling of classified documents, according to two people familiar with the indictment but not authorised to speak publicly about it.
• The charges themselves are unclear and remain under seal, one person said. It was not immediately clear if anyone else would be charged in the case.

How did this case come about?

• Officials with the National Archives and Records Administration reached out to representatives for Trump, after his term in office ended in January 2021, when they realised that important material from his time as president were missing from their collection.
• White House documents are considered property of the US government and must be preserved, according to the Presidential Records Act.
• A Trump representative told the National Archives in December 2021 that presidential records had been found at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.
• In January 2022, the National Archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Trump’s Florida home, later telling justice department officials that they contained “a lot” of classified material.

• In May 2022, the FBI and the justice department issued a subpoena for the remaining classified documents in Trump’s possession.
• Investigators who went to Trump’s property weeks later to collect the records were given roughly three dozen documents and a sworn statement from Trump’s lawyers attesting that the requested items had been returned. That assertion turned out to be false.
• In August 2022, federal officials with a search warrant returned to Mar-a-Lago and seized more than 33 boxes and containers totalling 11,000 documents from a storage room and an office, including 100 classified documents.
• Roughly 300 documents with classification markings – including some at the top-secret level – have been recovered from Trump since he left office in January 2021.

What is an indictment?

• An indictment is the formal charge brought against someone after a grand jury – which is made up of members of the community – votes and enough members agree there is sufficient evidence to charge someone with a crime.
• The indictment against Trump remains sealed. Once the document is made public, it will lay out the crime or crimes that Trump is accused of committing.
• Sometimes indictments include a lengthy narrative with lots of details about the allegations, while others are more basic and just outline the charges a defendant faces.

Did President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence have classified documents, too?

• Yes, but the circumstances of their cases are vastly different from the situation involving Trump.
• After classified documents were found at Biden’s think tank and Pence’s Indiana home, their lawyers notified authorities and quickly arranged for them to be handed over. They also authorised other searches by federal authorities to search for additional documents.
• There is no indication that either was aware of the existence of the records before they were found, and no evidence has so far emerged that Biden or Pence sought to conceal the discoveries.

• That is important because the justice department historically looks for wilfulness in deciding whether to bring criminal charges.
• A special counsel was appointed earlier this year to probe how classified materials ended up at Biden’s Delaware home and former office.
• Even if the justice department were to find Biden’s case prosecutable on the evidence, its Office of Legal Counsel has concluded that a president is immune from prosecution during his time in office.
• As for Pence, the justice department informed his legal team earlier this month that it would not be pursuing criminal charges against him over his handling of the documents.

Does a federal indictment prevent Trump from running for president?

The former US President has asserted on his Truth Social platform that he is being summoned to appear in federal court.

Former United States President Donald Trump has alleged on his Truth Social platform that he faces indictment on charges that he mishandled classified documents upon exiting the White House.

“I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday,” he wrote in the post, proclaiming his innocence. “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States.”

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Trump, the only former US president to be criminally prosecuted, pleads not guilty in New York arraignment hearing.

Former United States President Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty in New York to a string of charges related to a payment made to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump, the first former president to be criminally prosecuted in US history, entered the Manhattan courtroom shortly before 2:30pm (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday to formally hear the charges against him.

The Republican leader, who is seeking re-election in 2024, faces 34 felony charges of falsifying business records linked to the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and denounced the case as a “witch hunt”.

His arraignment came less than a week after a New York grand jury voted to indict the former president in a move that was welcomed by Trump’s critics but set off off widespread criticism from top Republicans.

“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse. Seems so SURREAL – WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America,” Trump posted on social media before his arrival at the Manhattan court.

The case has highlighted deep political divisions in the US and a large police presence was deployed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing amid concerns that violence could break out. Large groups of Trump supporters and detractors joined rival protests near the court.

This is a breaking story. More to follow.

From: Inside Story

Donald Trump is expected to become the first former or sitting US president to face criminal charges.

Donald Trump is expected to appear before a New York court on Tuesday, where he will become the first former or sitting US president to face criminal charges.

The charges have not been revealed yet, but a grand jury has been investigating a payment of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had an extramarital affair with Trump which he has always denied.

Media reports in the US suggest the former president may face other charges, too.

Trump denies all wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a witch-hunt by the Democrats, whom he accuses of trying to derail his 2024 election campaign.

Presenter: Laura Kyle

Guests:
Adolfo Franco – Republican strategist and chief counsel to the chairman of the International Relations Committee of the US House of Representatives

Claire Finkelstein – Law and philosophy professor at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law

Rina Shah – Founder of Rilax Strategies, a political and public affairs communications firm

Donald Trump has become the first former United States president to be charged with a crime for his alleged role in covering up a hush-money payment before the 2016 presidential election.

Here’s what to know about the indictment and the case:

What is an indictment?

According to the US Department of Justice, an indictment is the process when a person receives a “formal notice that it is believed that they committed a crime”.

The indictment contains the basic information that informs the person of the charges against them.

It takes place after a grand jury examines all potential evidence to decide whether a crime was committed. If the jury decides there is enough evidence, an indictment will come.

In this case, the grand jury in New York City, which has been meeting since January, indicted Trump after hearing testimony from a number of witnesses. The specific charges are not yet known, and the indictment will likely be announced in the coming days.

What was Trump indicted for?

The grand jury voted to indict Trump after months of hearing evidence about a $130,000 payment to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 election campaign. The money was allegedly intended to buy her silence about the encounter she says they had years before.

Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

The former president has denied the affair and any wrongdoing. He has said the payment was to protect his reputation from a false accusation.

While the specific charges were not clear, several US media outlets had reported before Thursday’s indictment that the potential charges relate to the way Trump reimbursed Cohen, with prosecutors alleging he improperly labelled the payments as legal expenses.

The charge, normally a misdemeanour, could be upgraded to a felony if prosecutors link the payment to violations of election law, which cap donations to political candidates at $2,700 per individual and require them to be made public. The payment to Daniels, right before the 2016 vote, could be considered an illegal campaign contribution.

What has Trump said?

Trump has denied Daniels’ claim, and his lawyer has accused Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, of extortion.

Calling himself “a completely innocent person”, he cast the indictment as the latest in a line of actions that he says are designed to “destroy” his Make America Great Again movement.

The former president also 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, calling Bragg a “disgrace”.

Is this the only investigation that Trump is facing?

Beyond the Manhattan case, Trump is facing an array of other investigations.

On the federal level, the Department of Justice is investigating the retention of top-secret government documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, and efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The efforts by many of the same players in the latter case were also the subject of a special grand jury investigation in the state of Georgia. The panel’s foreperson said the special grand jury recommended multiple criminal indictments.

With many serious cases looming around the other investigations, some legal experts have questioned the wisdom of the Manhattan case becoming the first to result in charges.

Republicans framed the indictment as a political prosecution, accusing Bragg of weaponising the criminal justice system.

Democrats were less vocal in the hours after the indictment became known, but some of the former president’s critics have described the case as a long-overdue dose of accountability.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat who is expected to announce he is running for re-election next year, has not yet commented.

A judge will likely unseal the Manhattan charges in the coming days, and Trump will have to travel there to be fingerprinted and photographed, known as a surrender date, which a court official said was expected on Tuesday.

He will then appear before a judge and be formally charged, followed by a decision on whether he should be released on bail or taken into custody.

If Trump indeed turns himself in, a relatively quick process and release is expected. A former president is not likely to be paraded in cuffs across a pavement or through a crowded court.

Legal experts say that any potential trial is still at least more than a year away, raising the possibility that the former US president could face a jury in a Manhattan courtroom during or even after the 2024 presidential campaign as he seeks a return to the White House.