Donald Trump launched into a furious rant on Truth Social after he became the first current or former president to ever be criminally indicted in the history of the US.
But his outrage over the matter seemed to prompt him to misspell the very word he wanted to emphasise – as he fumed that “Thugs and Radical Left Monsters” had “INDICATED” him on criminal charges.
“These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED the 45th President of the United States of America, and the leading Republican Candidate, by far, for the 2024 Nomination for President,” he wrote.
“THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. IT IS LIKEWISE A CONTINUING ATTACK ON OUR ONCE FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS. THE USA IS NOW A THIRD WORLD NATION, A NATION IN SERIOUS DECLINE. SO SAD!”
On Thursday 30 March, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Mr Trump on criminal charges over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election.
Sources confirmed the unprecedented development to The Independent on Thursday afternoon – making Mr Trump the first current or former US president to ever face criminal charges.
Mr Trump is reportedly facing more than 30 counts related to business fraud, sources told CNN after the indictment became public.
The indictment is said to have caught Mr Trump off guard, insiders told the news network.
While the former president’s team had been planning for an indictment in recent weeks – and going on a media blitz on the matter – the grand jury was not expected to be meeting on the case this week and was expected to take a scheduled break over the coming weeks.
This led to speculation that the indictment would be delayed.
But now, following Thursday’s grand jury vote, Mr Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina said he expects the former president to be arraigned in New York next week.
Manhattan prosecutors have been investigating whether Mr Trump falsified the Trump Organization’s business records when his former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen made a payment of $130,0000 to Ms Daniels days before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors claim that the money was used to silence Ms Daniels about an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump has long denied having an affair with the adult film star.
Mr Trump’s former fixer and personal attorney Cohen was convicted of tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations related to the payments to Ms Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
In recent weeks, the probe ramped up with both Cohen and Ms Daniels testifying before the grand jury.
Mr Trump was also invited to testify. Though it was an invite he unsurprisingly turned down, it was a strong sign an indictment was on the way.
