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Last week we learned that prosecutors in New York had spoken to Trump’s lawyers about the possibility of imminent charges connected to a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. This morning former president Trump said he will be arrested next week and he’s called for protests to “take our nation back.”
Mr. Trump made the declaration on his site, Truth Social, at 7:26. a.m. on Saturday in a post that ended with, “THE FAR & AWAY 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!”
Two hours later, a spokesman issued a statement clarifying that Mr. Trump had not written his post with direct knowledge of the timing of any arrest…
Prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, have signaled that an indictment of Mr. Trump could be imminent. But they have not told Mr. Trump’s lawyers when the charges — expected to stem from a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star — would be sought or when an arrest would be made, people with knowledge of the matter said. At least one more witness is expected to testify in front of the grand jury, which could delay an indictment, the people said.
One of the people said that even if the grand jury were to vote to indict the former president on Monday, a Tuesday surrender was unlikely given the need to arrange timing, travel and other logistics.
So there’s been no formal communication about Tuesday and that date is pretty unlikely. NBC reports a spokesman clarified this while complaining about “illegal leaks” to the media.
A spokesperson for Trump later clarified in a statement that there “has been no notification, other than illegal leaks from the Justice Dept. and the DA’s office, to NBC” and other news outlets.
He’s probably referring to reports that appeared Friday night, including at NBC, saying various agencies were gearing up for an indictment:
Former President Donald Trump will surrender to face criminal charges if indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, his lawyer said Friday evening.
The lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, spoke on the heels of a report by WNBC that federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are preparing security arrangements for the possibility that Trump will be indicted as early as next week.
“Will follow normal procedures if it gets to that point,” Tacopina told CNBC when asked what Trump would do if that possibility becomes reality.
