In the wake of a looming decision from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, former President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that he is expected to be indicted on Tuesday.
Trump had called for his supporters to protest in his quote, “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has yet to determine the outcome of the decision to charge the former president after he compensated former attorney Michael Cohen paying off former porn actor Stormy Daniels on a $130,000 hush money payment. The hush money was paid to Daniels about her affair with Trump one month prior to the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, had claimed to have an affair with Trump in 2006, which she had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Cohen had testified before the grand jury on Monday regarding the hush money payments at the time when he was legal counsel to The Trump Organization. He was previously convicted on December 12, 2018, after pleading guilty to tax evasion and campaign-finance violations but was disbarred from practicing in the state of New York 2 months later. He served a three-year sentence.
“This is not revenge,” Cohen said of his testimony against his former boss. “This is all about accountability. He needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds.”
Trump denied any allegations of any wrongdoing that would have violated campaign finance laws. The prosecutors had invited Mr. Trump to testify, which he declined the invitation. He has called the investigation a “witch hunt.”
The former president was invited to testify by the New York prosecutors before the grand jury, which he had declined that invitation.
Bragg’s office is investigating whether state laws were broken in Trump’s connection with the hush money payments or Trump’s company compensating Cohen for his work.
It is not certain whether the New York prosecutors will bring a misdemeanor or elevating the charge to a felony.
“A Section 175 charge would normally be a misdemeanor,” said Jonathan Turley in an op-ed on The Hill, a professor of Public Interest Law at The George Washington University. “The only way to convert it into a Class E felony require a showing that the ‘intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.’”
Some reactions from other wings of the GOP have come to criticize the possible indictment of the former president. Former Vice President Mike Pence respond to the pending arrest of the Trump on Sirius XM Patriot by Breitbart News.
“It reeks of the kind of political prosecution that we endured back in the days of the Russia hoax,” Pence said of the impending charge. “I know that former President Trump can take care of himself.”
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy slammed Bragg’s impending decision to indict the former president.
“Here we go again – an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,” Speaker McCarthy said of pending decision of the indictment on Twitter.
Trump is currently the candidate for 2024 presidential bid for the Republican Party as Nikki Haley is the only challenger in the race. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to make an announcement on his run for the White House.
“If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory,” said Elon Musk on Twitter predicting the 2024 presidential election.
As reactions come, law enforcement agencies have had precautionary discussions including the FBI, Secret Service, and the New York Police Department regarding security concerns in the event Trump is indicted.
