Trump news today: Donald Trump predicts arrest on Tuesday as possible indictment looms

The new chief justice of the District Court in Washington, D.C., who will oversee special advocate investigations into former President Donald Trump by the Justice Department, was once a roommate of Trump’s Supreme Court appointee Brett Kavanaugh , while in law school.

Law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels are reportedly preparing for the possibility that Donald Trump will be indicted as soon as next week in connection with the silent payment to Stormy Daniels.

Preliminary security assessments are underway and officials are discussing potential security plans near the Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Center Street in the event Mr. Trump shows up in person to face charges, according to NBC News, citing five senior officials familiar with the preparations. .

After soliciting donations from supporters through his Truth Social account, Donald Trump again invoked inflammatory and apocalyptic rhetoric around his 2024 campaign and potential criminal charges after predicting he would be arrested on Tuesday.

On Saturday, another all-caps post – about 45 minutes after he asked his followers to “send your contribution” to his campaign – called on his supporters to “protest, protest, protest” to “save America”.

The post followed his other all-caps post urging his followers to “protest” after he was arrested next week.

In a follow-up article, he again asserted that the United States was being “driven into World War III” while the Biden administration was “killing our nation.”

A spokesperson for Mr Trump said he wrote his messages without any direct knowledge of the timing of any arrests.

Donald Trump’s critics and activist groups condemned his inflammatory rhetoric and a statement by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as Republicans quickly rallied to defend the former president from possible criminal charges .

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also condemned Mr Trump’s “reckless” announcement predicting his arrest, which she said was used to “keep himself in the news and foment unrest among his people.” supporters” as he continues to use doomsday rhetoric surrounding his 2024 campaign and possible criminal indictments.

The Republican leader released a statement accusing the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office of an “outrageous abuse of power” and said he would ask House committees “to immediately investigate whether federal funds are being used to overturn our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions”. .

US Democratic Representative Ted Lieu hit back at Mr McCarthy’s suggestion that New York prosecutors are “subverting democracy” with their criminal investigation.

“Do you at least know what the charges are?” Did you see any of the grand jury evidence? No,” Mr. Lieu wrote. “You are a cowardly and partisan politician who does not respect the rule of law. In America, no one is above the law, including the person you bend your knee to.

On far-right social media, where QAnon influencers and Christian nationalists clash, debate the relevance of Marjorie Taylor Greene and whether Donald Trump is the savior of a nation and a party A declining Republican, the former president’s announcement that he expects arrest on Tuesday was the proof they needed that the Biden administration has weaponized the feds against him.

Mr Trump has called on his supporters to “protest, protest, protest”, but unlike the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, which was openly staged on social media platforms, the discussion of Trump’s potential arrest Mr. Trump has largely revolved around the Manhattan borough’s whistleblowing. attorney’s investigation and echoing similar inflammatory and dramatic rhetoric about the state of the United States.

QAnon accounts with many followers on Truth Social echoed their accelerationist “trust the plan” slogan, saying Mr Trump’s potential arrest would trigger a national downfall. Others said his arrest would make him a martyr around whom his supporters would rally.

QAnon influencer The Patriot Voice said the most effective protest would be wearing red “MAGA” hats. Laura Loomer told supporters not to show up outside Mar-a-Lago as the streets are likely to be closed; instead, she told people to show up to her first campaign rally of 2024 in Texas on March 25.

Ali Alexander, one of the organizers of the Stop the Steal rallies who is now campaigning alongside white supremacist Nick Fuentes for Kanye West, wrote: Close all roads to Mar-a-Lago. Now I am retired. I will pray for him though!

He also said he spoke to Alex Jones and “he’s not protesting either.”

After speaking out against Trump’s behavior around Jan. 6, former Vice President Mike Pence came to his former boss’s defense on Saturday after predicting he would be arrested next week.

He told SiriusXM radio that New York prosecutors’ potential indictment “reeks of the kind of political prosecution we got in the days of the Russian hoax,” referring to GOP shorthand for the investigation into 2016 Russian interference in that year’s election, with reports revealing a web of ties between the Trump campaign and Russian actors, none of whom have a hoax.

“Is this what the Manhattan DA says is their top priority?” Mr Pence added.

Donald Trump will hold his first rally for the 2024 presidential campaign in Waco, Texas on March 25, on the 30th anniversary of the deadly 51-day law enforcement siege at the Branch Davidians religious cult compound. .

A statement from the Trump campaign announcing the rally highlights his support among Republican voters in Texas in a recent poll by a right-wing media firm, finding the former president leading in the state against his potential 2024 rival. , Ron DeSantis.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has condemned Donald Trump’s ‘reckless’ announcement predicting his arrest, which she says was used to ‘keep himself in the news and foment unrest among his supporters’ .

“Regardless of the Grand Jury’s decision, its review of this case is clear: No one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States,” she said in a statement on Saturday.

“He cannot hide his violations of the law, his disrespect for our elections and his incitement to violence. Rightly, our justice system will decide how to hold him accountable,” she added.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is said to be engaged in “delicate negotiations with the Secret Service” over how to handle Trump’s potential arrest, according to Yahoo News.

“The main question at the moment is how do we develop procedures for an extraordinary and unprecedented scenario: how to arrest, fingerprint – according to standard procedure – handcuff an accused who happens to be a former president and is protected by a group of ‘Secret Service agents,’ reported chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff.

Trump could face felony charges involving silent payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, which is reportedly being investigated by New York prosecutors.

Her former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to a federal charge relating to a $130,000 payment to Daniels in 2016 to silence her over her claim that she had sex with Mr. Trump.

Cohen was then allegedly reimbursed for the money he gave her in payments described by Trump’s company as “legal fees,” which could be grounds for criminal tampering with business records. Cohen appeared before a grand jury in New York this week for the second time.

Despite seeing no charges or evidence implicating the as-yet-unannounced indictment against him, high-profile Republican figures were quick to defend Trump on Saturday after predicting he would be arrested.