Lawmakers and political leaders are reacting to Tuesday's historic arraignment of and unveiled indictment against former President Donald Trump.
As Republicans slammed the "travesty" of Trump's arraignment, Democrats' messaging centered on support for the "justice system."
Meanwhile, some of the now-exonerated "Central Park Five" -- five Black and brown boys wrongfully accused of rape and assault in New York City -- say the former president's indictment is "karma." Trump had called for the return of the death penalty in a series of ads in 1989 amid the case.
Apr 04, 2023, 6:08 PM EDT
Trump says hearing had 'no surprises' in 1st social post since arraignment
In his first post on social media since his arraignment, former President Donald Trump called the hearing "shocking" that there were "no surprises" and "no case."
Trump also promoted his upcoming speech tonight at Mar-a-Lago on his social media platform.
"Just lifted off for Palm Beach, Florida. Will be delivering remarks tonight at Mar-a-Lago at 8:15 P.M., EASTERN. The hearing was shocking to many in that they had no 'surprises,' and therefore, no case. Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here. There was nothing done illegally!" Trump wrote.
-ABC News' Will Steakin
Apr 04, 2023, 5:51 PM EDT
Legal experts weigh in on indictment and statement of facts
ABC News asked legal experts their thoughts on the indictment and statement of facts document unsealed Tuesday in the Manhattan district attorney's case against former President Donald Trump.
According to Lance Fletcher, a former assistant district attorney at the Manhattan DA's Office, the indictment "discusses an intent to defraud, and an intent to commit another crime, but does not specify what that other crime is."
"This is an important issue because the intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime is what bumps this up from a misdemeanor to a felony," Fletcher continued.
The timing of meetings and payments relative to the 2016 election is also important "because it indirectly argues purpose was campaign-related and not for Trump's personal reasons (such as keeping his marriage together)," Fletcher said.
Marc Scholl, who was a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office for nearly 40 years and is now in private practice with the New York-based firm Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss, called the statement of facts document "an oddity."
"Why it was not part of the indictment as a conspiracy count is odd, but I guess the DA didn't want to have a misdemeanor," Scholl said, adding that statements of facts like this "are not commonplace."
Scholl noted that the district attorney doesn't need to prove anything that's said in the statement of facts -- just what’s in the indictment.
Former President Donald Trump appears in court for an arraignment on charges stemming from his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury in this courtroom sketch, Apr. 4, 2023 in New York City.
Jane Rosenberg
Michael Bachner, a former assistant district attorney in the Rackets Bureau of the Manhattan DA's Office, said the only surprise in the indictment was "it being expanded to include [former Playboy model Karen] McDougal."
"The theory of the prosecution is exactly as we expected and that is that there was a scheme to bury stories through this catch-and-kill process in order to help Donald Trump get elected, and that these payments were in the campaign contributions which were improperly buried," Bachner continued.
As far as next steps, Trump's attorneys are now "obviously going to file some very significant motions to dismiss the indictment," including by citing statute of limitations, and the theory "that there was no effort to interfere with an election," Bachner said.
"This was all payments made for personal purposes. However, given the timing of the payment is right after the Access Hollywood story, I think the judge is going to let this indictment stand," Bachner said.
-ABC News' Soo Rin Kim and Mike Levine
Apr 04, 2023, 5:27 PM EDT
The moment Trump denied knowing about payment to Stormy Daniels
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on board Air Force One as he travels back to Washington, Apr. 5, 2018.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
With former President Donald Trump being arraigned on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to Stormy Daniels -- to which he pleaded not guilty -- comes the reminder of when Trump first broke his silence about the adult film star.
It was on April 5, 2018, when Trump walked back to where reporters were seated on Air Force One and denied, when questioned, that he knew about a reported $130,000 hush money payment made by his then-lawyer Michael Cohen to Daniels.
