Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on education as he holds a campaign rally with supporters, in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. March 13, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that he was expected to be arrested on Tuesday as a grand jury in New York investigates his connection to a gag money for a porn star.
Trump said he learned of his alleged impending arrest through a leak from the “corrupt” Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He called on supporters to protest on his behalf — a call reminiscent of the time when the former president encouraged thousands to flock to Washington, DC, during the January 6, 2021 uprising.
“TOP REPUBLIC AND EX-PRESIDENT PRESIDENTS OF THE USA, WILL BE CREATED ON TOURNAMENTS ON THIS DAY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website early Saturday morning. “Treason, BACK OUR COUNTRY!”
In another emphatic post on Saturday afternoon, Trump attempted to strengthen his base even further.
“WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS anymore,” he wrote. “They’re KILLING OUR COUNTRY WHEN WE SET UP AND WATCH. WE HAVE TO SAVE AMERICA! RESPONSIBILITIES, AGAINST, AGAIN!!!”
Grand jury heard testimony regarding a 2016 reimbursement to Stormy Daniels in the state Criminal Court in lower Manhattan, but there has been no public announcement as to when or whether Trump will be indicted. Law enforcement agencies across New York have been security arrangements in the case of the former president being charged with a criminal offence.
Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina was not informed of the possibility of Trump’s arrest Tuesday.
“Nobody told us anything, it was so upsetting,” Tacopina told CNBC. “President Trump is basing his response on the reports, and the fact that this is a political prosecution and the DA divulges everything to the press rather than liaising with lawyers as they should. .”
If He’s Indicted, Trump, Republican 2024 presidential candidatewould become the first former president ever to face criminal charges.
US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy shared a pro-Trump tweets Seventh, called the District Attorney “radical” in his pursuit of “political revenge” against the former president.
“I am directing the relevant committees to investigate immediately if federal funds are being used to overthrow our democracy by interfering in elections with motivated prosecutions. politics,” he wrote in the tweet.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
—Dan Mangan of CNBC contributed to this report.
