Former President Donald Trump said he thinks he’s going to be arrested on Tuesday.
With legal pressure coming from all sides, Trump released a frenzied statement on Truth Social Saturday morning decrying “illegal leaks” and a “highly political,” George Soros-funded prosecutor preparing to take him into custody.
SECURITY AGENCIES DISCUSSING SAFETY PLANS AHEAD OF POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT
“Illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime and whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump said. “Protest, take our nation back.”
Trump released his statement following several reports that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is preparing to indict him on charges related to the investigation into hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, who made the payments to Daniels and was reimbursed by Trump, said on Thursday he believes an indictment is “imminent.” Cohen testified before the grand jury multiple times last week. And Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, met with prosecutors on Wednesday.
On Friday evening, New York security agencies reportedly began to collaborate on putting safety plans in place in the event Trump is indicted. Measures for safety around the Manhattan Criminal Court were discussed in the event the former president has to travel to New York.
The agencies involved in the efforts are the New York Police Department, New York State Court Officers, the Secret Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
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Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating federal campaign finance law related to a $130,000 payment to Daniels in 2016 to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with the married Trump.
There are concerns about how solid a criminal case Bragg could build, as the prosecutor considers bringing the first indictment of a former president in U.S. history. The legal case could hinge on whether Trump falsified business records by listing Cohen’s reimbursement payments to Daniels as legal expenses. Such a crime is a misdemeanor in New York but could be enhanced to a felony if Bragg’s office argues the fraud was intended to conceal a second crime.