Former US president Donald Trump on saturday said he expects to be arrested over a hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.Trump claimed “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan district attorney’s office indicated he will be arrested on Tuesday.
Citing a “leak” from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday morning: “Leading Republican candidate & former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.Protest, take our nation back!”
The investigation centers on $130,000 paid weeks before the 2016 polls to stop Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, from going public about an affair she says she had with Trump years earlier.
The grand jury in Manhattan has been hearing from witnesses, including Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud and campaign finance charges in 2018, admitting that he arranged illegal hush-money payments to the women including Daniels to silence them about sexual encounters they said they had with Mr Trump a decade earlier.He showed a congressional committee a check for the amount of $130,000 signed by Trump.
He said he acted at the direction of Trump.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has apparently been investigating whether payments made to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in 2016 broke state laws.
Cohen would be a crucial witness for prosecutors.Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called Bragg’s investigation “a political witch hunt.
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The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment on Mr Trump’s claim and a spokesman for the former president did not respond when contacted.
