The twice-impeached former US President allegedly secretly paid a porn star ahead of the 2016 US election.
Former US President Donald Trump says he expects to be arrested in a case on Tuesday allegedly paid Secretly paying a porn star ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
In a post on his Truth social platform on Saturday, Trump called on his supporters to protest ahead of his alleged arrest.
“The leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States will be arrested on Tuesday of next week. Protest, take back our country!” Trump said, referring to himself and citing a leak from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. wrote.
He did not say what the charges would be.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Investigation focuses on $130,000 payment Michael CohenTrump’s former personal attorney and fixer turned porn star Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 campaign days.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, said she was paid years ago not to go public about her affair with Trump. Trump has denied the affair.
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna reporting from Washington, DC, “So the grand jury is investigating whether these payments to Michael Cohen were in fact a violation of campaign spending funds.”
Trump’s attorney told CNBC channel Friday evening that his client would surrender to face criminal charges if indicted by a Manhattan grand jury.
If the Manhattan District Attorney indicts Trump, the 76-year-old would become the first former president to be charged with a crime.
Trump, a Republican, was president from 2017 to 2021 and is already announced Another bid for the White House. He was defeated by Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations related to arranging payments to Daniels and another woman, among other offenses. He has said that Trump has instructed him to pay.
Cohen testified before the grand jury on Monday and again on Wednesday, according to Cohen’s attorney Lanny Davis. Grand jury proceedings are not public.
Daniels’ attorney said he spoke with prosecutors last week.
check is One of Trump’s many legal woes As he seeks the Republican Party’s nomination for President.
“There are other, more serious allegations against Trump,” Hanna said. Yet he has chosen to highlight the matter and call for protests, similar to calls made on January 6, when a riot broke out on Capitol Hill in DC and for which Trump also faces investigation. Have been.”
On January 6, 2021, a riot broke out at the US Capitol in which his supporters broke down the doors and windows of that building and left police officers beaten and bloodied as they tried to block the certification of Biden’s election victory.
Trump also faces a state-level criminal investigation in Georgia over efforts to overturn the 2020 results in that state.
A special counsel is currently probing Trump’s handling of the classified official document After leaving office as well as his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
trump organizationThe former president’s real estate company was convicted of tax fraud in a civil case in December but was not charged, leading to the resignation of two prosecutors who worked on the investigation.
Trump leads his early rivals for his party’s presidential nomination with 43 percent support from Republicans in a February Reuters/Ipsos poll, compared with 31 percent for his nearest rival. Florida Governor Ron DeSantiswho have not declared their candidature yet.