Trump can still run for president and serve despite indictment

Despite his indictment, former President Donald Trump can continue his 2024 campaign for president and serve in office if he wins.

A Manhattan grand jury voted on Thursday to indict Trump. The Constitution does not contain any provision barring someone who has been indicted or even convicted from becoming president.

While the charges against Trump have not been disclosed to the public yet, they are reportedly related to the hush money payments the businessman allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels before he was elected president in 2016.

Daniels said she was popping champagne after the news of the indictment broke.

"Thank you to everyone for your support and love!" she wrote on Twitter. "I have so many messages coming in that I can't respond ... also don't want to spill my champagne. #Teamstormy merch/autograph orders are pouring in, too! Thank you for that as well but allow a few extra days for shipment."

Renowned civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz, a Democrat who broke party ranks to defend Trump in his first impeachment trial, criticized the decision to indict Trump.

"The worst, weakest, most abusive case of prosecutorial indiscretion in my 60 years of practicing law," he said. "I have never seen a weaker case. I have never seen a case that would be so easy to win if the person's name was not Donald Trump and the city was not New York. There's a risk he could lose with some of the 12 jurors in New York who will be terrified to come home to their family and friends and say we acquitted Trump. And so this is the most abusive case I've ever seen."

Dershowitz said the case "violates due process in every way," adding that "the statutes are inapplicable" and the "statute of limitations has expired."

Trump is the first former president to be indicted. His arraignment is expected to take place next week.