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With the news that Donald Trump is preparing to arrest, Americans rightly have questions. The arrest of the former president – who is also an active 2024 candidate – would be unprecedented in American history. Trump is bickering on social media, his minions are calling the justice system rigged, protests are building, and it’s a good time to take a peek at the long, sordid, and confusing saga of the former president’s legal woes.
You need to know the following:
Is Trump Really arrested?
None of this is certain until it happens, but there are many reasons to believe that it will come – and soon. Trump himself said on Saturday that his arrest is coming soon (more on when in a moment), and Fox News reported on Friday that early preparations for the former president’s arrest were underway.
When will Trump be arrested?
Trump initially said on Tuesday, but his team has since suggested that the president does not know exactly when the arrest is coming. So while the broad consensus is that it’s expected to happen this coming week, we won’t know until it happens.
What would Trump be arrested for?
We won’t know the specific charges against Trump until the indictment is sealed. According to reports and Trump himself, it could happen as early as next week. What we do know is that Trump is not in immediate legal danger because of the elephant in the room — his role in the bloody uprising that escalated in the Capitol on January 6 after he lost the 2020 election.
Instead, the investigation at issue here focuses on a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels a month before the 2016 election. The money was anticipated by Trump fixer Micheal Cohen, but was soon replaced by the Trump Organization.
Because the payment may have been made to prevent news of a decades-long attempt to interfere with Trump’s presidential bid, investigators have argued that it could be an illegal campaign contribution. (Some in Trump’s orbit have suggested that he should insist that the payment had nothing to do with his campaign and everything to do with keeping his marriage afloat, even though the president, A rolling stone Reports indicate that prosecutors may also be looking at charges of falsifying business documents in an effort to conceal the payment.
On his Truth Social account, Trump referred to the accusations as “an old fairy tale completely debunked (by numerous other accusers!).
Who is behind the charge?
Alvin Bragg. Bragg was elected Manhattan District Attorney in 2021. He was previously a New York State Deputy Attorney General, where he helped oversee the lawsuits that led to the shutdown of the Trump Foundation.
Can you really arrest the former president? And can you put him in jail?
We are in uncharted territory. Richard Nixon was pardoned before he could face the criminal justice system for his involvement in Watergate. While sitting presidents are largely immune from criminal charges, the voters’ ouster of Trump in 2020 makes him subject to the rule of law like everyone else.
However, the former president has unusual security protocols, and the terms of his detention must be negotiated with the Secret Service. No one kicks down doors here. Will there be handcuffs? Frog march? Fox News reported Friday on negotiations between the Manhattan Sheriff’s Office and the Secret Service to implement the expected arrest, fingerprinting and booking.
If the Stormy Daniels thing was so long ago, why now?
In short: Because Trump is no longer in office. News of Daniels’ payment broke in 2018, almost a year into Trump’s term. In May of that year, Trump admitted that he had ordered his lawyer Michael Cohen to be reimbursed for the $130,000 payment made to Daniels. The loan to Cohen had been omitted from earlier disclosures, prompting accusations of a cover-up.
Cohen eventually pleaded guilty to several charges related to the payment, including tax and bank fraud and campaign finance violations. During the trial, Cohen directly accused Trump of masterminding the payment scheme.
Throughout Trump’s presidency, the courts and the Justice Department argued at length about whether criminal charges could be brought against a sitting president, but to no avail. Now that Trump is no longer in office, a major obstacle to impeachment has been removed.
Is Trump crazy? ALRIGHT. Fine. We already know. How crazy is trump
Trump appeared to confirm rumors of his impending arrest in several posts on his Truth Social account on Saturday. Using capital letters for stormy emphasis, Trump began with an apocalyptic tone bringing the “death” of the American dream; the depravity of “radical left anarchists”; and the injustice that “the motherland is arrested and kept in captivity like animals.”
He then continued: “Now, illegal leaks from the corrupt and highly politicized Manhattan District Attorney’s office show that… the far-right Republican candidate and former President of the United States will be arrested next Tuesday.”
Trump called his supporters to the streets: “Protest, take back our nation! It’s time!!! We must save America! Protest, protest, protest!!!” Calls for a new wave of unrest — and troubling echoes of Jan. 6 — come as Trump has recently gained access to his mainstream social media accounts, including his YouTube account on March 17.
What are Trump’s henchmen saying?
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy tweeted that the impending arrest was a “radical abuse of power by the DA, who is letting violent criminals walk as he pursues political vendetta against President Trump.”
Mike Pence, who recently said Trump was endangering the former vice president’s family on Jan. 6, toed the party line on the issue, criticizing the Manhattan district attorney and questioning his motives.
Rudy Giuliani at Truth Social argued: “What the Democrats do to President Trump, they will do to you. They have destroyed the fair and equal administration of justice in the United States.”
Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona expressed questionable whataboutism about the truth, writing: “President Trump is on a path to being impeached before all the Biden family thugs. Think about it. We have a two-tiered justice system.”
Also on Truth Social, Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson (Trump’s former White House physician) blasted “Soros-owned DAs” who were waging “vendettas against conservatives” before appearing to endorse President Biden’s impeachment. “The nation is falling apart. We need Trump back in charge NOW!”
What are top Democrats saying?
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to Twitter On Saturday, they will try to calm the waters. “Whatever the grand jury decides, its review makes it clear: no one is above the law, not even the former president of the United States.”
He called Trump’s truth-telling social ramblings a “reckless” attempt to “incite unrest among his supporters.” And he insisted that justice must take its course: “He cannot hide from his violations of the law, his lack of respect for our elections, and his incitement to violence. It is right that our justice system will decide how to hold him accountable.”