Former president Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to be charged with a crime after he was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan Thursday.

This indictment does not prevent Trump from running for the White House in 2024. Prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office have not stated whether they will seek prison time if Trump is convicted. 

As of Thursday evening, the charges of his indictment had not been publicly released. Bragg’s office is coordinating a surrender, which is expected to happen Tuesday, according to Reuters.  

The former president was being investigated for several payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.

Federal prosecutors in New York charged Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen in 2018 for violating campaign finance laws in relation to these hush money payments and Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison. 

Trump has continuously denied all allegations related to the payments, referring to the indictment as “political persecution.” 

Trump’s charges are highly likely to reinforce current dueling political perspectives — those who support Trump and those who say his indictment is long overdue, according to reporting from the Associated Press. 

Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina, Trump’s defense lawyers, said in a statement Trump has not committed any crimes, and they will continue to advocate for him. Trump released a statement claiming the indictment is “political persecution and election interference at the highest level in history.”

“I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” Trump said on Truth Social. “The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party — united and strong — will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”