Donald Trump said he was going to be arrested. Here’s what we know
Key points
- Donald Trump is seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 US presidential election.
- On Saturday, he announced that he should be arrested next week.
- He did not say what the charges would be.
According to a report on Truth Social, former U.S. President Donald Trump said he was awaiting arrest on Tuesday in a case brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and called on his supporters to protest.
A spokesman for the regional prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
Mr. Trump said, without providing evidence, that “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office indicated he would be arrested.
He did not say what the charges would be.
“Illegal leaks from the corrupt and highly politicized Manhattan District Attorney’s Office … indicate that since the crime cannot be proven … a leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States of America will be arrested. Tuesday next week,” Trump tweeted on Saturday.
He urged his supporters to “protest, take back our nation!”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office earlier this year began presenting evidence to a grand jury investigating a $130,000 ($192,309) payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney and aide, made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the last days of office Trump. Campaign 2016.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had an affair with Trump ten years ago. Mr. Trump denies that the case took place.
Trump was Republican President from 2017 to 2021 and has said he will make a bid to return to the White House in the 2024 US presidential election.
Earlier this month, Mr. Bragg’s office invited Mr. Trump to testify before a grand jury investigating silence payments, Trump’s attorney Susan Necheles said. Legal experts said it was a sign that an indictment was near.
Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations involving arranging payments to Daniels and another woman, among other crimes.
He said he was instructed by Mr. Trump to make the payments. US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan did not charge Trump with the crime.
Cohen testified before a grand jury on Monday and again on Wednesday, according to his lawyer, Lanny Davis. Grand jury meetings are not public.
Daniels’ attorney said she spoke with prosecutors last week.
The investigation is one of several legal challenges Trump faces as he seeks the Republican nomination for president.
Mr. Trump has also faced state-level criminal investigation in Georgia over attempts to reverse the state’s 2020 results.
The Special Counsel, appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, is currently investigating Mr. Trump’s handling of classified government documents since leaving office, as well as his attempts to reverse the 2020 election results, which he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Mr. Bragg’s office last year won the Trump Organization a conviction for tax fraud. But Mr. Bragg refused to accuse Trump himself of financial crimes related to his business practices, prompting two prosecutors who worked on the investigation to resign.
Mr. Trump leads his first contenders for his party’s nomination, winning 43% of Republican support in a February Reuters/Ipsos poll, compared with 31% for his closest challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has yet to announce his candidacy. .