Newsman: Former President Donald Trump predicted on his social media platform that he will be arrested Tuesday while the Law enforcement officials in New York are making security preparations for the possibility that former President Donald Trump could be indicted.
Former President Donald Trump claimed he expected to be arrested in connection with the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump also called on his supporters to protests ahead of possible indictment.
On his platform Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump cited “illegal leaks” that he will be arrested and he called for protests.
On Truth Social Saturday, Trump urged his supporters to “Protest, take our nation back!”
“The far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.” he wrote in all caps.
In a new statement on Saturday, a Trump spokesperson appeared to walk back the comments made by former president Trump on his social media platform.
“There has been no notification, other than illegal leaks from the Justice Dept. and the DA’s office, to NBC and other fake news carriers, that the George Soros-funded Radical Left Democrat prosecutor in Manhattan has decided to take his Witch-Hunt to the next level. President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system. He will be in Texas next weekend for a giant rally. Make America Great Again!” a Trump spokesperson said.
A Trump spokesperson speaking on background told USA TODAY that there has been “no notification” of a possible Trump indictment other than news media reports and “leaks from the Justice Dept. and the DA’s office.”
But the New York Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment according to the USA TODAY.
Meanwhile, Manhattan prosecutors on Wednesday met with Daniels. She thanked her attorney in a tweet.”
“Thank you to my amazing attorney … for helping me in our continuing fight for truth and justice,” Daniels wrote in a tweet Wednesday afternoon.
Daniels and at least two former Trump aides – onetime political adviser Kellyanne Conway and former spokesperson Hope Hicks – are among witnesses who have met with prosecutors in recent weeks.
Donald Trump is running for president again in 2024, also defended himself, saying that he has not committed a crime and he accused the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office of being “corrupt & highly political.”
Donald Trump says he’ll still run for president again if he’s indicted in any of the current investigations into his conduct. His first rally of the 2024 presidential race is scheduled for March 25 in Waco, Texas.
Donald Trump has denied wrongdoing, and federal investigators ended their
own inquiry into the payments in 2019.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to comment to media on whether it will soon be pursing an arrest warrant for Trump.
But the Associated Press reported that law enforcement officials in New York are discussing security preparations in anticipation that Trump may be indicted in coming weeks.
If it does occur, Trump would become the first former president to be indicted in U.S. history.
Trump has been entangled in several criminal investigations but the case related to Daniels is the longest-running of all of them, reaching back to 2016.
According to the Associated press , Law enforcement officials in New York are making security preparations for the possibility that former President Donald Trump could be indicted in the coming weeks and appear in a Manhattan courtroom in an investigation examining hush money paid to women who alleged sexual encounters with him, four law enforcement officials said Friday.
The law enforcement officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said authorities are just preparing in case of an indictment. They described the conversations as preliminary and are considering security, planning and the practicalities of a potential court appearance by a former president.
The former President is under investigation for a $130,000 payment he made just before the 2016 election to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels about an earlier affair.
The grand jury has been hearing from witnesses including former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who says he orchestrated payments in 2016 to two women to silence them about sexual encounters they said they had with Trump a decade earlier.
Cohen has said that at Trump’s direction, he arranged payments totaling $280,000 to porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. According to Cohen, the payouts were to buy their silence about Trump, who was then in the thick of his first presidential campaign.
Cohen and federal prosecutors said the company paid him $420,000 to reimburse him for the $130,000 payment to Daniels and to cover bonuses and other supposed expenses. The company classified those payments internally as legal expenses.
The $150,000 payment to McDougal was made by the then-publisher of the supermarket tabloid National Enquirer, which kept her story from coming to light.
Cohen pleaded guilty, served prison time and was disbarred. Federal prosecutors never charged Trump with any crime.
