Donald Trump, former President of the United States, has been indicted on 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records and conspiracy.
The charges come from hush money payments made to two women ahead of the 2016 presidential election to suppress claims of sexual encounters with Trump.
The payments were allegedly made to prevent the women’s stories from affecting Trump’s chances of winning the election over Hillary Clinton.
The charging document was unsealed during Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, to which he pleaded not guilty.
The two women who received the hush money payments were Stormy Daniels, a porn star who was paid $130,000 by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, and Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who received $150,000 from The National Enquirer, a publication that supported Trump.
The grand jury, which began hearing testimony in late January, issued the indictment against Donald Trump on Thursday. The charging document had been kept under seal until Trump’s arraignment.