Donald Trump Calls for Protests Ahead of Potential Tuesday Arrest
Former President Donald Trump has called for protests and predicted that he will be arrested on Tuesday in relation to an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
"NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on early Saturday morning, writing in all caps.
Trump's post comes amid increased speculation that the former president could soon be indicted as part of the Manhattan D.A.'s probe into a $130,000 reimbursement paid to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for a payment he made to adult film actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
In an earlier post on Truth Social on Saturday, Trump wrote: "OUR NATION IS NOW THIRD WORLD & DYING. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEAD!"
Trump also reiterated his claim that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him "AND WITH IT, THE HEART OF OUR OUR COUNTRY and he added that American patriots are being "ARRESTED & HELD IN CAPTIVITY LIKE ANIMALS, WHILE CRIMINALS & LEFTIST THUGS ARE ALLOWED TO ROAM THE STREETS, KILLING & BURNING WITH NO RETRIBUTION."
He also made reference to inflation and crime, saying those issues were "DESTROYING OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE."
Newsweek has reached out to former President Trump's team via email for further comment.
The former president's latest remarks about a potential arrest come after speculation about a possible indictment has grown in recent days, with NBC New York reporting on Friday that local, state, and federal law enforcement are preparing for the possibility of an indictment as early as next week, citing five senior officials familiar with the matter.
Any indictment would would likely center on Trump's company classifying a financial reimbursement to Cohen as legal expenses. It is against New York state law for companies to misclassify the nature of expenses and such a misclassification can lead to a misdemeanor charge.
That charge can be raised to a felony if the misstatement took place in order to cover up another crime. Cohen previously pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges after helping to arrange the payments to Daniels.
Update 03/18/23 08.25 a.m. EDT: This article was updated to include more information.