Russia Reacts to Trump Indictment

Russia is keeping quiet about the news that former President Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday.

When asked about the indictment, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "I don't think this is a topic for us to comment on...These are internal U.S. processes that we do not consider necessary to comment on," the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported.

On Thursday, Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina confirmed that Trump was indicted by a grand jury for alleged hush money payments he made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels. The indictment remains under seal so the exact charges are unknown at this time but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had been investigating the alleged payments as violations of campaign finance laws.

The indictment makes Trump the first former president to face criminal charges.

In a statement on Thursday, Bragg's office also confirmed the indictment and said, "this evening we contacted Mr. Trump's attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.'s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected."

Trump responded to the indictment in a statement on Thursday in which he criticized Bragg and Democrats for what he called "political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history."

"Never before in our Nation's history has this been done. The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever," the statement said.

"Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who was hand-picked and funded by George Soros, is a disgrace. Rather than stopping the unprecedented crime wave taking over New York City, he's doing Joe Biden's dirty work, ignoring the murders and burglaries and assaults he should be focused on. This is how Bragg spends his time!"

Trump has continued to deny any wrongdoing in the alleged payments. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, previously admitted to making the payments to Daniels on Trump's behalf.

While speaking with ABC's Good Morning America on Friday, Tacopina was asked about the indictment and the former president's impending arrest.

"The president will not be put in handcuffs...As far as a mugshot's concerned, perp walk, as I said, I'm sure they'll try to make sure they get some joy out of this by parading him. But I think this is a different situation," Tacopina said. "I don't think they're going to allow this to become a circus, as much as humanly possible."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.

Following the 2020 Senate Report which confirmed that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Trump's relationship with Moscow and Kremlin officials has been closely examined. He has been a frequent topic on Russian state TV, earning both praise and ribbing from the media.

Earlier this month, Russia-1 host Vladimir Solovyov, nicknamed "Putin's voice," said that Trump is "the only person in America that hasn't gone crazy," but also mocked him over his looming indictment.

Solovyov that Trump should have a rank of a "Major" within the Russian intelligence service due to his support, which a guest pointed out as being a low rank for a former president. Solovyov replied: "Yes, I know he was president. Maxim Maximovich Isayev (a famous fictional Soviet spy) was a colonel. You want Trump to have a high rank? A major at the most."

Trump said in February that he could end the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in "24 hours."

"It really has to be done from the office of the president. And you have to get both in a room, and there are things you can say to each one of them, which I won't reveal now, which will guarantee that this war will end immediately," Trump said.

Update 03/31/23, 11:16 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.