EIt was similar to the rhetoric before the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when Donald Trump called his supporters to the barricades early Saturday morning. “I will be arrested Tuesday next week. Protest, take back our nation!” he wrote in capital letters on his network Truth Social. The “corrupt and highly political” prosecutor’s office in Manhattan is after him despite the lack of evidence and his innocence. The case is a “fairy tale”.
Media reports that the law enforcement authorities are preparing for a possible indictment of Trump and the resulting protests are likely to have alarmed the former American president. On Friday, however, one of his lawyers had assured that if it came to that, Trump would “follow the normal process”.
But what is the alleged arrest about? Trump did not mention this in his post. The case dates back to 2016. Trump was in the final stages of his presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton. There was still a month before the election when Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 in hush money, according to his own statement on his behalf. The porn actress was not to discuss an affair she says she had with Trump in 2006, months after his wife Melanie gave birth to son Barron. Trump himself denies both the money order and having sex with Daniels.
Trump should be able to avoid the “Perp Walk”.
However, in 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to multiple counts related to the hush money payment. He stated that he had reached a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels in October 2018, processed the payment through a shell company founded for this purpose and later declared it as campaign costs. Cohen also admitted to facilitating $150,000 in hush money for former Playboy model Karen McDougal that same year. An agreement with the tabloid National Enquirer, which bought the rights to the story with the intention of sweeping it under the carpet, ensured that she also did not report on an affair with Trump.
If Trump is actually charged in this matter, the procedure could follow the usual pattern for sensational cases: the person concerned informs the person concerned of the charges – unless the information has already been leaked – as a rule, the lawyers. They also make an appointment with prosecutors for the usual steps: a photo, a DNA sample, and fingerprints. In most cases, this is followed by the “perp walk” that is typical of American law enforcement agencies, especially in New York: the accused are publicly led in handcuffs to the indictment – a step that is considered very unlikely in Trump’s case.
Stormy Daniels in May 2018
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Image: AFP
The court could instead issue him with a subpoena directing him to appear at the appointment. When formally charged, Trump would be briefed on the charges and his attorneys would likely plead not guilty. He would continue to be accompanied at every turn by Secret Service employees.
In the event that there should be an indictment, Trump had prepared on Thursday. He was “completely innocent” and “did nothing wrong,” he wrote on Truth Social. The whole case is a witch hunt by the “radical left Democrat prosecutor” Alvin Bragg against him.