In a shocking twist, Donald Trump has been officially indicted by a Manhattan-based grand jury. In the weeks prior, the situation had appeared to deteriorate for District Attorney Alvin Bragg. On Wednesday, it was announced that the grand jury was being sent home for a month.

The assumption, a fair one at the time, was that Bragg needed more time to rescue his case. That was apparently wrong, though, as the grand jury voted to indict on Thursday (The New York Times).

 

A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges.

The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will likely be announced in the coming days. By then, prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, will have asked Mr. Trump to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now.

I’ll be honest in saying I didn’t see this coming. All signs, including various sourced reports, were pointing to the indictment breaking down, not accelerating. Bragg was apparently playing things close to the vest, though, and now charges have been filed. What they are hasn’t been revealed yet, but the filing is a done deal. It’s just a matter of timing on the official announcement by the DA’s office.