Trump Responds

Mar-a-Lago – "I never thought anything like this could happen in America. I never thought it could happen," Trump said Tuesday night. "The only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defending our nation from those who seek to destroy it."  President Trump said Tuesday from his home if Florida after being arraigned in a New York Courtroom on charges brought by a Democrat Prosecutor bent on his destruction.  

"From the beginning, the Democrats spied on my campaign--remember that they attacked me with an onslaught of fraudulent investigations Russia, Russia, Russia; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; impeachment hoax number one; impeachment hoax number two; the illegal and unconstitutional raid on Mar-a-Lago right here; the lying to the FISA court; the FBI and DOJ relentlessly pursuing Republicans; the uncontested judicial changes to election laws by not getting approvals from state legislatures," Trump said. 

Fox News is reporting Trump was referring to the original investigation by the FBI, then Special Counsel Robert Mueller, into whether he and members of his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to influence the presidential election. After nearly two years, Mueller's investigation yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination by the Trump campaign.

Yahoo News is reporting Stormy Daniels must pay nearly $122,000 of Donald Trump's legal fees that were racked up in connection with the porn actor's failed defamation lawsuit, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.

In a campaign email Tuesday night, Donald Trump Jr. said, "He (President Trump) will not let this sham indictment stop our mission to Make America Great Again! Our movement will prevail – just as we’ve prevailed after every other vicious attack."

CNN is reporting the criminal charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush money payments, made during the 2016 campaign, to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies.

Bragg said the business records were falsified in 2017 with the intent of concealing criminal conduct connected to the 2016 campaign. He referenced a New York state law that makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means.

Bragg is not charging Trump with a violation of election law or a conspiracy related to that alleged campaign-related conduct. The indictment says for all 34 counts that Trump had the “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.”

This remains a developing story.