(WWJ) – Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on charges stemming from an alleged “hush money” payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton said while there may be an “initial shock,” considering no other president in U.S. history has been charged criminally, Thursday’s news isn’t out of the blue.
“This grand jury has been around Manhattan now for a couple of weeks and it is very easy to get an indictment,” Langton said live on WWJ Thursday afternoon. “So the fact that they even paneled the grand jury on this issue, normally about 99.5% of the time, the district attorney’s going to get the indictment.”
While the level of proof needed for an indictment is “like nothing,” according to Langton, at trial, it’s "beyond a reasonable doubt."
“And that could be problematic,” he said. “There are some witnesses that have some sketchy pasts for the prosecution, or in this case the district attorney.”
Oakland University Political Science Professor Dave Dulio called Thursday’s indictment “historic.”
Trump has painted the indictment as a politically motivated move to keep him from running for president again in 2024. The charges “feed right into what he’s looking for politically,” Dulio said.
“I think this plays right into Trump’s hands. I think you’ll see him play up, if there’s an arrest, his fingerprinting, his mugshot I think will certainly be shared all over the place by the former president and his supporters,” he said, noting this development could “rally his base.”
Dulio predicts Trump's poll numbers could hold steady, if not even increase, in the wake of the indictment.
The indictment, filed under seal in Manhattan, could be announced in the coming days. Trump could be asked to surrender and face charges that are yet to be announced.
Trump has denied the allegations of paying Daniels and his attorneys have vowed to "vigorously" fight the indictment.
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