Former US President Donald Trump said the New York attorney general will arrest porn star Stormy Daniels on Tuesday following a lawsuit alleging she paid him to remain silent about their sexual encounters.
Trump announced on his social media site, Truth Social, that the “unlawful escape” from the Manhattan district attorney’s office meant that “the presidential candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday.”
“Resist, bring back our nation,” Trump wrote, urging his supporters to demonstrate.
Prosecutors in New York are preparing a defense in the event that Trump is indicted.
So far, it has not publicly announced a timeline for the grand jury to complete its work on the case, including a possible vote on whether to indict the former president for those crimes.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Brock earlier this year began presenting evidence before a grand jury investigating a $130,000 (€121,000) payment Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she had an affair with Trump more than a decade ago, something the former president continues to deny ever happened.
Earlier this month, Bragg’s office subpoenaed Trump to testify before a grand jury investigating the Daniels payments, according to Trump’s attorney Susan Nessels. Legal experts took this request as a sign of an indictment.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations related to payments he made to Daniels and another woman, among other crimes. The attorney said Trump directed the payment. The Manhattan district attorney did not charge Trump with any crimes at the time.
Cohen testified before the grand jury on Monday and again on Wednesday, according to his attorney Lanny Davis. Grand jury hearings are not public.
The investigation is one of several legal issues facing Donald Trump in his campaign to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
oh Former President Subject to criminal investigation Georgia about his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in that state, where he lost to Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
An independent reviewer appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland is currently investigating Trump’s administration’s handling of classified documents after he left office and his efforts to alter the results of the 2020 election.
Last year, Bragg’s office upheld the Trump Organization’s conviction on tax fraud charges. But the prosecutor declined to indict himself for financial crimes related to Trump’s business practices, prompting the resignation of two prosecutors who worked on the investigation.
Donald Trump is already leading his party’s race for the presidential nomination next year, with 43% support from Republican voters in a February Reuters/Ipsos poll, compared to 31% for his closest rival, Florida’s governor. , Ron DeSantis. to declare his candidature.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”