March 30, 2023 Trump indictment news

By Elise Hammond, Tori B. Powell, Amir Vera and Jessie Yeung, CNN

Updated 8:50 a.m. ET, March 31, 2023
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8:37 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Trump expected to appear in court Tuesday for arraignment

From CNN's Kara Scannell, Kaitlan Collins, Lauren del Valle and Evan Perez

Former President Donald Trump arrives to board his airplane for a trip to a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, at West Palm Beach International Airport, March 25.
Former President Donald Trump arrives to board his airplane for a trip to a campaign rally in Waco, Texas, at West Palm Beach International Airport, March 25. (Evan Vucci/AP/File)

Former President Donald Trump is expected to appear in court Tuesday for his arraignment, multiple sources tell CNN.

Judge Juan Merchan is expected to preside, one source said. 

8:30 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

SOON: Former Vice President Mike Pence joins CNN's Wolf Blitzer in one-on-one conversation

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a law enforcement round table hosted by Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor Rebecca Kleefisch at the Ingleside Hotel on August 3, 2022, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a law enforcement round table hosted by Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor Rebecca Kleefisch at the Ingleside Hotel on August 3, 2022, in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Former Vice President Mike Pence will join CNN's Wolf Blitzer for a one-on-one CNN Primetime conversation at 9 p.m. ET tonight.

The interview comes just hours after the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump by a Manhattan grand jury, marking the first time in American history that a current or former president will face criminal charges.

The CNN conversation also comes just days after a judge ruled Pence must testify about conversations he had with Trump leading up to January 6.

8:35 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Trump team will roll out surrogates and track who is loyal to him following indictment, according to sources

From CNN's Kristen Holmes

Former President Donald Trump and his team will be rolling out surrogates beginning Friday to hit Democrats, the investigation and District Attorney Alvin Bragg across various forms of media as they work to shape the public narrative, according to sources close to Trump. 

His team will also keep track of members of Congress and 2024 potential Republican hopefuls who defend Trump. They plan to blast out those responses and likely go after those who do not rally around the former president. 

Trump's team, while caught off guard by the timing of the indictment, has been working on a media plan to respond to the potential charges for the last two weeks.

Several advisers said that they were learning many of the details of the indictment and potential arraignment from media reports. There have been preliminary conversations on what getting Trump in and out of New York will look like.

8:43 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

McConnell and Thune silent so far on indictment as Scott calls to investigate Manhattan DA

From CNN's Manu Raju

House GOP leaders have rushed to former President Donald Trump's defense, which shows the GOP's division over Trump, as top Senate Republicans Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Whip John Thune have remained silent. 

Republican Sen. Rick Scott is calling on Senate leadership to support House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s efforts to investigate Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

"I fully support speaker McCarthy's efforts to investigate this. We are now living in a nation where people can't trust the legal process, FBI, DOJ, or IRS … and I will do all I can in the Senate to support @SpeakerMcCarthy's efforts. I call on Senate leadership to do the same," Scott tweeted Thursday.

8:15 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, sources tell CNN

From CNN's John Miller

Former President Donald Trump speaks during the America First Agenda Summit organized by America First Policy Institute AFPI on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. 
Former President Donald Trump speaks during the America First Agenda Summit organized by America First Policy Institute AFPI on Tuesday, July 26, 2022 in Washington, DC.  (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in an indictment from a Manhattan grand jury, according to two sources familiar with the case.

Earlier Thursday, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the office has contacted Trump's attorney to "coordinate his surrender" for arraignment on "a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal."

"Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected," it added.

Trump will likely appear in court early next week, his defense attorney said.

CNN's Kara Scannell contributed reporting to this post.

8:14 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Trump attorney says indictment has "a complete lack of legal basis"

From CNN's Kara Scannell

Donald Trump's attorney Chris Kise called Trump’s indictment “the lowest point in history for our criminal justice system.”

“What was once the most respected and revered district attorney’s office in the nation has been fully bastardized by an opportunistic politician seeking, like many others, to cash in on the Trump brand,” Kise said. “The complete lack of legal basis, coupled with the politically targeted nature of the prosecution, should strike fear into every citizen in this country irrespective of their views of President Trump.”
7:37 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Trump indictment in New York not expected to impact timing of Georgia probe

From CNN's Sara Murray and Jason Morris

The Trump indictment in New York is not expected to impact the timing of potential indictments in the criminal probe into Donald Trump and his allies in Georgia, according to a person familiar with the matter. If charges are brought in that case, indictments could come as soon as this spring. 

The source said staff in the Fulton County district attorney’s office will be closely watching how the security situation plays out in New York, particularly surrounding Trump’s arraignment.

The Fulton County district attorney’s office declined to comment on the New York indictment. 

The Atlanta-area special grand jury investigating whether Trump and his allies violated the law in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia recently concluded its work and recommended multiple indictments, according to the foreperson who has spoken out publicly. Now it’s up to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to make charging decisions.

7:40 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Manhattan DA's office has contacted Trump’s attorney to coordinate surrender, spokesperson says

From CNN's Kara Scannell

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg released a statement Thursday saying the office has contacted former President Donald Trump's attorney to "coordinate his surrender" for arraignment on "a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal."

"Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected," it added.

7:46 p.m. ET, March 30, 2023

Trump's sons respond to his indictment

From CNN's Alayna Treene

Two of Donald Trump's sons tweeted their responses to his indictment Thursday.

Eric Trump tweeted the indictment "is third world prosecutorial misconduct."

Donald Trump Jr. tweeted "corrupt elites" don't care about violent crimes, "but they are threatened by Trump."

Donald Trump Jr. also reacted on his "Triggered" podcast, saying he learned the news of the indictment about 15 minutes before his show.

"This is stuff that would make Mao, Stalin Pol Pot, it would make them blush. It's so flagrant. It’s so crazed,” he said.