Tuesday March 21, 2023 – Police in major US cities are preparing for potential unrest in case former President Donald Trump is arrested this week as part of a hush-money inquiry.
Police in New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles are boosting their law enforcement presence following reports that a Manhattan prosecutor may charge Trump over claims that he paid a porn star to keep quiet about the affair they allegedly had.
It would be the first criminal case brought against a former president in the history of the United States of America.
Steel barricades were being erected on Monday outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where Trump could be charged, fingerprinted and photographed if charges are filed this week, as US media sources have been reporting the last couple of days.
Also there has also been an increased police presence outside Trump Tower in the city.
Every member of the New York Police Department (NYPD), including plainclothes detectives, has been ordered to wear their full uniform on Tuesday and is being placed on standby to mobilise, a police source told CBS news.
According to reports, the NYPD and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force have been in touch with the US Secret Service, whose job it is to protect presidents and former presidents, about how a potential arrest might take place.
The Stormy Daniels case centres on how Trump reimbursed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, after he paid Ms Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about an alleged affair years earlier with Trump. The former president has denied any such relationship with Ms Daniels.
The record for the payment reimbursing Mr Cohen says it was for “legal fees”.
US intelligence officials have detected an increase in online threats against legal and government officials since Trump wrote online on Saturday that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, according to CBS.
Most of the threats were against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the man widely expected to file charges against Trump.
On Saturday, the same day Trump posted that his supporters should protest, Mr Bragg sent an email to staff.
“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” the prosecutor wrote.
The Stormy Daniels case centres on how Trump reimbursed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, after he paid Ms Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet ahead of the 2016 presidential election about an alleged affair years earlier with Trump. The former president has denied any such relationship with Ms Daniels.
The FBI said the record for the payment reimbursing Mr Cohen says it was for “legal fees”.
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