Former President Donald Trump said that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday as part of the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation, while he also called on his supporters to protest the move.
Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, that “illegal leaks” from the D.A. showed that he would be arrested. “Protest, take our nation back!” he wrote in all caps.
He did not specify what he has been told about an indictment and potential charges, but his post comes amid reports that his lawyers are preparing for it to happen. Trump called the investigation by D.A. Alvin Bragg a “fairytale.”
The New York investigation reportedly has to do with so-called “hush money” payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in advance of the 2016 presidential election. Trump attorney told MSNBC that the payments were “not a crime” and that Trump was merely following the advice of his attorney at the time, Michael Cohen. Cohen has testified before a grand jury.
An indictment of Trump would be unprecedented in American history. Richard Nixon faced potential criminal charges related to the Watergate scandal after resigning in 1974, but he was pardoned by his successor, President Gerald Ford.
Trump also faces potential charges from prosecutors in Fulton County, GA over charges that he and his supporters interfered in the 2020 election. A special federal prosecutor, Jack Smith, also is investigating Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, as well as the former president’s handling of documents marked classified that were found at his Florida residence.
