Former President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform Saturday that he expects to be arrested Tuesday, and demanded his supporters protest.
“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!” Trump said in an all-capital letters post.
A Manhattan grand jury is investigating whether “hush money” was paid during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claimed there were sexual encounters with Trump. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on the report.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond.
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It is not known whether Trump has been formally informed of a pending arrest, nor how he learned of the plans, The Associated Press reported. Three people close to Trump informed The Times that Trump has no knowledge about when an indictment or arrest might come, and that it was his advisors’ “best guess that it could happen around Tuesday.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg earlier this year began looking into a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Cohen was Trump’s personal attorney and “fixer,” Reuters and others reported.
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Cohen pleaded guilty to federal finance violations in 2018, and said he was directed by Trump to make the payments. Trump was not charged with a crime. Cohen served time in prison and was disbarred, according to the AP.