Former President Donald Trump said he expects to be arrested Tuesday in Manhattan, and he is imploring his followers to protest in response.
“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!,” he thundered in an all caps missive to his followers on Truth Social Saturday morning.
As Donald Trump did on January 6, 2020, he is once again instigating his supporters to take action. It is to be hoped that the nation will not see a repeat of that insurrection and the violence that it provoked.
He slammed the “CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE” in his post. Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District DA, has been investigating Trump’s role in a $130,000 reimbursement paid to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for a payment he made to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Cohen’s initial payment was allegedly made to keep Daniels quiet about an affair with the then-candidate. Speculation of an indictment for the former president, which is a historic first, was bubbling last week.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that he did not commit any crime.
Trump’s defense lawyer Joseph Tacopina said on Friday that Trump would surrender to face criminal charges if indicted. Those words came on the heels of a WNBC report that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are preparing security arrangements for a possible Trump indictment.
Trump has 24-hour protection by the U.S. Secret Service and currently resides at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, which he seldom leaves.
Under Florida law, the state’s governor is responsible for ensuring that an indicted person in the state is delivered to the state in which they are indicted. However, Florida law also gives the governor the power to call for a further investigation before a defendant is extradited. Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis currently is positioning himself as a likely contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination against Trump.
