Former President Donald Trump’s advisers urged him not to call for protests in the event he is criminally indicted next week, according to reports.
After the infamous riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, an event that followed Trump giving a fiery speech and touting conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from him, aides were concerned a call for more protests would not look good for the former president, according to CNN.
TRUMP SAYS HE EXPECTS TO BE ARRESTED NEXT WEEK IN STORMY DANIELS INVESTIGATION
Trump said on Saturday morning he expects to be arrested next week on charges related to paying porn star Stormy Daniels hush money in 2016. The statement on Truth Social was a frenzied attack on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and urged his supporters to “protest, take our nation back.”
“Illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime and whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump said. “Protest, take our nation back.”
It’s unclear why Trump believes he will be arrested on Tuesday, specifically. A spokesperson for Trump said his team didn’t have any knowledge about the timeline of the expected indictment or his arrest.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, who made the payments to Daniels and was reimbursed by Trump, said on Thursday he believes an indictment is “imminent.” Cohen testified before the grand jury multiple times last week. And Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, met with prosecutors on Wednesday.
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New York security agencies, including New York Police Department, New York State Court Officers, the Secret Service, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, began preparing for heightened measures next week.
Should Trump be indicted and arrested, he would be allowed to present himself to authorities in Manhattan, where he would be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken. The former president would then be arraigned and likely released on his own recognizance.