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Donald Trump was US President from 2017 to 2021
Item Information
- Author, Anthony Zurcher and Sarah Fowler
- Rolle, BBC News
- Mar 18, 2023, 5:55 p.m. 03
Updated 2 hours ago
Former US President Donald Trump said he would be arrested on Tuesday (March 21) and called on his supporters to take to the streets to protest.
The statement made this Saturday (03/18) was not corroborated by his lawyers, who stressed that they had received no information from the authorities and that the speculation was only based on reports from some local media.
Federal prosecutors are working to find evidence of crimes Trump committed before and during his tenure as president. According to several reports, a formal charge could be filed next week.
If these charges are actually brought, it would be the first time a criminal case has been brought against a former US President.
For five years, New York prosecutors have been investigating allegations that Trump made illegal payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
Daniels claimed Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney, paid her $130,000 in exchange for not speaking publicly about her extramarital affair with Trump before the 2016 election.
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The Stormy Daniels case is one of several legal issues facing the former President of the United States
The former president denied having had a sexual relationship with Daniels and said the investigation was politically motivated.
This is one of the cases in which 76yearold Trump is being investigated, although he has never been formally charged and has always denied committing a crime.
presidential campaign
Trump has made it clear that he will continue his campaign to become the Republican Party’s nominee in the 2024 presidential election, even as he faces formal charges.
Previous efforts to bring him to justice — including two congressional impeachment trials, an investigation into possible Russian intervention and trials at his home in MaraLago, Fla. — have helped increase his popularity among his supporters. Such an accusation could therefore have a similar effect.
Although it is not known whether he will be officially charged this week and for what possible crimes, the former president decided to anticipate this possibility and mobilized his supporters.
Trump has already shown he has a loyal following, as evidenced by the Capitol takeover on January 6, 2021, when hundreds of people rushed into Government House to annul the results of the election where he had been beaten.
This Saturday, Trump wrote on his social network “Truth Social” that “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan Attorney’s Office in New York would “suggest” that he died on March 21.
The Manhattan District Attorney declined to comment on the matter. Trump’s attorney, Sudan Necheles, said her team had not been briefed on the case.
“Because this is a political charge, the prosecution has adopted the practice of leaking everything to the press, rather than contacting President Trump’s attorneys as they would in a normal case,” she said.
the court proceedings
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Trump is also under investigation for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol
The Stormy Daniels case took a big step forward earlier this month when Trump was asked to testify before a grand jury, which experts say means he could soon face criminal prosecution.
The hearings are being held in secret, and several former Trump advisers are said to have testified before the judges.
According to US media, New York’s judiciary is preparing for the possibility of Trump being indicted and appearing in a Manhattan courthouse next week.
Local officials are considering the practicalities of bringing a former president to justice, including security concerns, according to the Associated Press.
Another Trump attorney, Joseph Tacopina, told the news outlet that “we will follow normal procedures” if he is charged.
Donald Trump faces a separate criminal investigation into attempts to overturn his narrow defeat in the state of Georgia in the 2020 presidential election, though it’s unknown if the former president is under direct investigation.
The US Department of Justice is also investigating whether secret government documents found at his MaraLago residence were damaged after Trump left office, as well as broader efforts to undermine the results of the presidential election three years ago, including the attack on January 6.