Former US 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, according to a report on Truth Social on Saturday.
District Attorney’s spokeswoman Danielle Filson said the prosecutor’s office “will refuse to confirm or comment” on issues related to Trump’s post, as well as potential charges.
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.
“Protest, take back our nation!” Trump said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office earlier this year began presenting evidence to a grand jury investigating a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and aide, made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the final days of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
The prosecutor’s office did not provide any evidence
In a Saturday morning post on his own social media platform, Trump said he expects to be taken into custody as the Manhattan District Attorney considers allegations of investigating silence payments to women who claimed to have had sexual encounters with the former president.
If Trump is charged, he will only be arrested if he refuses to turn himself in. Trump’s lawyers have previously said he will follow normal procedure, meaning he will likely agree to turn himself in at a New York City police station or directly at Bragg’s office.
There is no evidence that prosecutors had any official contact with Warn Trump that he would be taken into custody. Trump’s press secretary said Saturday that “there were no notifications of a pending arrest.”
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had an affair with Trump ten years ago. Trump denied that the affair 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.
Bragg’s office invited Trump to testify before a grand jury investigating silence payments earlier this month, according to Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles. Legal experts said it was a sign that an indictment was close.
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance violations involving arranging payments to Daniels and another woman, among other crimes. He said Trump had instructed him to make the payments. US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan did not charge Trump with the crime.
According to his lawyer, Lanny Davis, Cohen was tested before a grand jury on Monday and again on Wednesday. Grand jury meetings are not public.
Daniel’s lawyer said she spoke with prosecutors last week.
Trump faces another investigation
The investigation is one of several legal challenges Trump is facing as he seeks his Republican candidacy for the presidency.
Trump is also facing statewide 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 Trump’s handling of classified government documents since leaving office, as well as his efforts to reverse the 2020 election results, which he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Bragg’s office last year won the Trump Organization a conviction for tax fraud. But Bragg refused to charge Trump himself with financial crimes related to his business practices, prompting two prosecutors who worked on the investigation to resign.
Trump is ahead of his first rivals in 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.
