Ex-President of the USA, Donald Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday and has urged his supporters to launch mass protests.
On Saturday he wrote on his social networking site Truth Social that “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan district attorney’s office “indicate” he would be arrested on Tuesday.
However, his lawyer, Susan Necheles said there had been no communication from law enforcement and the former president’s post was based on media reports.
“Since this is a political prosecution, the district attorney’s office has engaged in a practice of leaking everything to the press, rather than communicating with President Trump’s attorneys as would be done in a normal case,” she said.
Prosecutors have been looking at a possible indictment of Mr Trump with several reports saying it could come next week.
If indicted, it would be the first criminal case ever brought against a former US president.
The case against him focuses on alleged hush money paid on Trump’s behalf by his lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election.
It is one of several cases in which the 76-year-old is currently being investigated, although he has not yet been charged in any and denies wrongdoing in each.
However, Trump has pledged to continue his campaign to become the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, even if he is indicted.
It would be noted that past efforts to investigate him, including two impeachment trials, the Russia investigation and the Mar-a-Lago raid, have tended to make him more popular with his base, so an indictment could have a similar effect.
Trump in January became the first president in American history to be impeached twice. But being impeached is not the same as being convicted and kicked out of office or barred from ever holding it again.
That’s up to the Senate, which is conducting its trial of Trump. It’s the first time a former president has been the subject of such a trial.
