Former President Trump said Saturday morning on his Truth Social site that he is set to be arrested based on charges by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Tuesday.
Writing in all caps, Trump referred to “illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan District Attorneys office.” He accused the office of the D.A. of being funded by businessman and philanthropist George Soros, who’s known for making political donations.
Claiming, “with no crime being able to be proven, & based on an old & fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale,” Trump ends the post by saying, “The far & away leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week. Protest, take our nation back!”
On Friday Joseph Tacopina, Trump’s attorney in the case, said Trump would surrender to face charges if indicted by a Manhattan grand jury.
Tacopina spoke following a report by NBC News’ New York City affiliate, WNBC, that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are preparing security arrangements for the possibility that Trump would be indicted as early as next week.
On January 30, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg revealed that he would begin presenting evidence related to Trump’s role in paying hush money to the adult film actress known as “Stormy Daniels.” to the grand jury.
On Monday, former Trump attorney and self-described “fixer” Michael Cohen testified before that grand jury, after having met with prosecutors from the District Attorney’s office at least 19 times. Cohen wrapped his testimony in a second appearance on Wednesday.
Cohen had pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018 for arranging a nondisclosure agreement for which he paid Daniels $130,000, a campaign contribution violation during the 2016 election cycle, since the payment was made in service of the Trump campaign and exceeded the federal limit.
The former Trump fixer has asserted that he paid the hush money out of his own personal funds, then was reimbursed by the Trump Organization and also paid extra bonuses for a total that eventually rose to $420,000.
Stormy Daniels herself, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, met with Manhattan prosecutors on Wednesday.
It’s also not clear what charges prosecutors might be exploring, but legal experts have surmised that one potential crime could be the way the payments to Cohen were structured and falsely classified internally as being for a legal retainer. New York has a law against falsifying business records, but it’s a misdemeanor—unless the falsifying of records is done in conjunction with a more serious felony.
Daniels has said her 2006 sexual encounter with Trump was not something she wanted but that she also didn’t say no to. On his Truth Social site on March 7 Trump denied having an affair with Daniels, and characterized Bragg’s investigation as part of a wider conspiracy to bring him down.
Trump, who has announced he’s running for reelection in 2024, has long asserted that Manhattan prosecutors are engaged in a “witch hunt.” He has also called Bragg, who is Black, a politically motivated “racist.”
The revelation by Trump about an expected Tuesday arrest in Manhattan comes after a judge on Friday ordered his attorney Evan Corcoran to provide testimony as part of the Department of Justice’s investigation into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents when he left the White House in January 2021 and moved to a residence at his Florida country club, Mar-a-Lago.
Also on Friday, Trump returned to YouTube and Facebook after a more-than two-year suspension following the deadly insurrection on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Saying, “I’M BACK!”—again, in all caps—he posted a brief video that appeared to be from his 2016 campaign, stating, “Sorry to keep you waiting. Complicated business. Complicated.”
TrumpTower
