Former US President Donald Trump will be charged with paying money to a porn star right before the 2016 presidential election.
The details of the case against him have not yet been disclosed.
A grand jury voted to indict him after investigating a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in an attempt to buy her silence about the alleged affair.
76-year-old Trump denies his guilt. He is the first current or former US president to face criminal charges.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, which was investigating, confirmed it had contacted Mr. Trump’s lawyer to “arrange his surrender” on unspecified charges.
The ex-president, who lives in Florida, is expected to fly to New York on Monday and appear in court on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told CBS News, the BBC’s US affiliate.
At the meeting, which will last about 10-15 minutes, the indictment will be read to him.
The United States Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting current and former US presidents, will be responsible for court appearance security.
In 2016, adult film star Stormy Daniels contacted the media offering to sell her story about what she said was an adulterous affair with Donald Trump in 2006 – a year after he married his now-wife Melania.
Mr. Trump’s team found out, and his lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid Ms. Daniels $130,000 to keep her quiet. It’s not illegal.
However, when Mr. Trump reimbursed his attorney’s fees, the payment record indicated that they were legal costs. Prosecutors say that amounts to Mr. Trump falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanor felony in New York.
Prosecutors may also argue that it violates election law because his attempt to hide his payments to Ms. Daniels was motivated by the fact that he did not want voters to know he had an affair with her.
Concealing a crime by falsifying records would be a felony, which is a more serious charge. Even proponents of prosecution admit that in any case it is by no means a clear-cut matter.
There is little precedent for such prosecutions, and past attempts to charge politicians with crossing the line between campaign finance and personal spending have failed.
Mr. Trump now faces the prospect of being fingerprinted and caught on camera, like all criminal defendants.
In his statement, Mr. Trump lashed out at the Manhattan district attorney. He called the prosecutor a “disgrace” and accused him of “doing Joe Biden’s dirty work.”
“Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘get Trump,’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable — charged a completely innocent man with an act of blatant election interference,” he said.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized the investigation in his hometown of New York as a political “witch hunt” by his opponents.
Mr. Bragg, who is a registered Democrat, denied having a political vendetta against Mr. Trump. “We evaluate cases in our jurisdiction based on the facts, the law and the evidence,” he tweeted earlier this month.
Mr Trump’s lawyer, Susan Necheles, said in a statement: “He has committed no crime. We will vigorously fight this political persecution in court.”
After the indictment, Ms. Daniels thanked her supporters. “I’ve been getting so many messages that I can’t respond… and I don’t want to spill the champagne,” she wrote on Twitter.
The criminal case may affect the 2024 presidential election. Mr. Trump is now the front-runner among all the declared and potential candidates for the Republican White House nomination.
But there is nothing in US law that prevents a candidate convicted of a felony from campaigning and being president – even while in prison.
His campaign sent out fundraising emails Thursday night citing the allegations.
Top Republicans in Congress are rallying behind Trump.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said, “Alvin Bragg did irreparable damage to our country by trying to interfere in our presidential election.
“As he routinely releases violent criminals to terrorize the public, he has used our sacred justice system as a weapon against President Donald Trump.”
But Democrats welcomed the indictment, saying it shows that no one is above the law.
Congressman Adam Schiff said: “The indictment and arrest of a former president is unprecedented in American history.
“But the same goes for the illegal behavior that Trump has been accused of.”
