Former US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (18) that he will be “arrested” within three days and called for protests, in the face of a possible charge for paying for the silence of a porn actress before the 2016 elections.
“The 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!” Trump declared on his Truth Social network, in the third person and in capital letters.
If he is charged by the New York state court, Trump will become the first former US president accused of a crime and his aspirations to become the Republican presidential candidate for the 2024 elections will be complicated.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reacted angrily, accusing New York prosecutors of seeking “political revenge” against Trump and indicated he would push for a congressional investigation.
The investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat, focuses on a $130,000 payment made two weeks before the 2016 presidential election, which Trump won, to a porn actress known as Stormy Daniels.
The money was supposedly intended to prevent Stormy, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, from disclosing a relationship she says she had with Trump a few years earlier.
On Friday, one of Trump’s lawyers, Joseph Tacopina, said his client would appear before a New York court if he was charged.
Trump has repeatedly denied an affair with Daniels and claims the investigation was politically motivated.
– “Illegal leaks” –
In his post today on Truth Social, Trump referred to “illegal leaks from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which he called “corrupt and highly politicized.” He also said that the investigation is “based on an old fairy tale and completely discredited (by many other prosecutors!)”.
Hours later, Trump doubled down on a new post in capital letters, calling his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, “corrupt” and encouraging his followers to protest: “Protest, protest, protest!!!”, he demanded.
Susan Necheles, Trump’s lawyer, indicated that the former president’s publications were based on press reports and not on any new action taken by prosecutors.
“As this is a political charge, the prosecutor’s office is resorting to leaks to the press, instead of communicating with President Trump’s lawyers, as would be done in a normal case,” Necheles said in a statement sent to AFP.
A grand jury in New York — a special panel made up of impartial citizens — that examines the evidence presented by prosecutors to decide whether the filing of charges is justified, has been hearing witnesses in the Trump case.
On Monday, jury members heard from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who made the payment to Daniels. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 on federal pay-related charges, but pleaded guilty and said he was merely following the former president’s orders.
Daniels herself met with prosecutors on Wednesday and “agreed to be available as a witness or for further investigation if necessary,” according to her attorney Charles Brewster.
Trump also received an invitation to testify, which legal experts say is a sign that an indictment is looming.
Payment to Daniels, if not properly accounted for, could result in a charge of a lesser crime related to falsifying business records.
This could be considered a serious crime if the false accounting was used to cover up a second crime, such as a campaign finance violation, reported The New York Times.
– Outlook for 2024 –
Trump faces multiple criminal investigations at the state and federal levels for possible wrongdoing before, during and after his term (2017-2021).
In Georgia, a prosecutor is investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to overturn the tycoon’s electoral defeat in the 2020 elections in that southern state.
The republican is also the subject of a federal investigation into the management of classified documents, as well as his possible involvement in the violent invasion of the Capitol, seat of Congress, on January 6, 2021.
Some analysts believe an indictment bodes ill for Trump’s chances in 2024, while others speculate it could instead benefit him.
“Arrest secures Donald Trump’s nomination,” tweeted political strategist Rick Wilson, saying the Republican base will support him.
Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the electric car company Tesla and a self-described libertarian aligned with republican positions, went even further. “If that happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide,” he wrote on Twitter.
#Trump #arrested #Tuesday #calls #protests
:format(jpeg):fill(f8f8f8,true)/s3/static.nrc.nl/podcasts/wp-content/blogs.dir/131/files/2020/12/nrcregulierepodcastvandaag.png)
