Donald Trump indicted: What porn star Stormy Daniels alleged against him

Trump had on March 18 called upon his supporters to stage protests, claiming he “expects” to be arrested on Tuesday. “Illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan district attorney’s office … indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven … the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Protest, take our nation back!” he added, as reported by Reuters.

What is the allegation against Trump?

According to Reuters, Manhattan District Attorney Bragg has presented evidence to a New York grand jury about a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Her real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Cohen, Trump’s then-lawyer, made the payment to Daniels, and Trump later reimbursed him. According to a BBC report, the record for the payment reimbursing Cohen says the payment was for “legal fees”. Prosecutors may say this amounts to Trump falsifying business records.

Trump has denied the sexual encounter, which is alleged to have taken place after his marriage to his current wife Melania Trump and a few months after the birth of their son Barron.

How did the Stormy Daniels story come out?

Daniels has claimed that Trump slept with her in 2006, when she was 27 years old, after promising to put her on his reality show ‘The Apprentice’.  According to a report in The New York Times, the adult film star claimed  afterwards, Trump would phone her occasionally, calling her “Honeybunch.” She eventually stopped answering his calls.

According to the NYT, Daniels attempted to sell her story several times and secured a deal with a publication in 2011, when Trump launched a presidential bid, but the magazine backed out after Cohen threatened legal action.

However, after Trump began seriously campaigning for the 2016 US Presidential elections, another similar story helped her chances. A video from the behind-the-scenes footage of a TV show he starred in showed him describing groping an actress on the show, leading to widespread outrage.

The Times report states that this made Trump’s team concerned about Daniels’ story leaking and adding to the controversy. As a result, the payment was arranged, it says.

In 2018, her story hit the headlines anyway. On TV, Daniels claimed she was risking a million-dollar fine for breaking the non-disclosure agreement by speaking out, but “it was very important to me to be able to defend myself”, as reported by BBC. In August 2018, Cohen testified that Trump had asked him to make a payment of $130,000.

What will happen now and could Trump be arrested?

It is unclear what the charges on Trump will be, but reports speculate it will come under the category of a misdemeanour, which is seen as a minor offence. But a state election law could also be used to state how campaign funds were misused. However, it is an untested application.

A BBC report states that once the investigation is complete, the grand jury votes on criminal charges. But the Manhattan District Attorney will decide if charges are to be brought in, and what specific ones. If a criminal case is initiated, it would be the first against a former US President.