Donald Trump Indicted: Musicians React – Billboard
Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday (March 30) for a 2016 payout to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal for covering up allegations of extramarital sex.
This historic event marks the first criminal case against a former US President. The news comes as Trump is also facing an investigation into his alleged involvement in 2020 election interference by his supporters and the January 6, 2021 US Capitol attack, in addition to his handling of classified documents after as he was no longer in office.
“He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political persecution in court,” lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Takopin said in a statement. Associated Press.
At press time, the exact New York grand jury allegations against Trump are unknown.
In late 2016, at the height of Trump’s presidential campaign, Daniels was paid $130,000 by his former lawyer Michael Cohen to keep her quiet about a decade-old incident after they met at a celebrity gold tournament. Earlier that year, Cohen also organized National ExplorerThe publisher will pay McDougal $150,000 to end her Trump affair story. Trump was implicated in court documents as being aware of the arrangements.
Trump reacted to the indictment in a statement, calling the situation “political harassment and election interference at the highest level in history” and a “witch hunt” led by “radical left-wing Democrats.”
“The Democrats lied, cheated and stole in their obsession with trying to ‘grab Trump’, but now they’ve done the unthinkable – charged a completely innocent person with an act of flagrant election interference,” he wrote.
A number of stars reacted to the news on social media, including Questlove, Jason Isbell and others. See below.