Trump says he will be arrested on Tuesday

Former President Donald Trump says he will be arrested on Tuesday citing leaked information from the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr. Trump called for his supporters to protest what he said is a politically driven indictment over alleged hush money payments in 2016. 

“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,” the former president wrote in an all-caps screed. 

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“PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!,” he wrote. 

A spokesperson for Mr. Trump said the former president has received no formal notification from prosecutors of an impending arrest “other than illegal leaks from the Justice Dept. and the DA’s office, to NBC and other fake news carriers.”

“President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system,” the spokesperson told The Washington Times.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment. 

A Manhattan grand jury has been hearing from witnesses as part of a multi-year investigation into payments Mr. Trump allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal in 2016 through his lawyer Michael Cohen. 

Mr. Cohen, who plead guilty to campaign finance law violations and for lying to Congress, said the payouts were to buy their silence about previous relations with Mr. Trump. 

Mr. Trump has denied the allegations and called the probe a “witch hunt.” 

Ms. Daniels has met with prosecutors in recent weeks. Two former aides to Mr. Trump - former political adviser Kellyanne Conway and former spokesperson Hope Hicks - have also met with prosecutors. 

Law enforcement officials in New York have been making security preparations for a possible indictment of Mr. Trump. 

Mr. Bragg has made not publicly announced a timeframe for the grand jury to wrap up its work on the case or any potential vote on whether to indict Mr. Trump. 

Mr. Trump would become the first former president in U.S. history to face an indictment if one should occur. 

Vivek Ramaswamy, who is challenging Mr. Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, said a “Trump indictment would be a national disaster.”

“It is un-American for the ruling party to use police power to arrest its political rivals,” Mr. Ramaswamy wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “This will mark a dark moment in American history and will undermine public trust in our electoral system itself. I call on the Manhattan District Attorney to reconsider this action and to put aside partisan politics in service of preserving our Constitutional republic.”

Others predicted that an indictment of Mr. Trump would solidify his victory in 2024. Twitter owner Elon Musk predicted: “If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory” in a post on his platform. 

Sen. J.D. Vance, Ohio Republican, who received Mr. Trump’s endorsement ahead of his midterm election victory in November, said “a politically motivated prosecution makes the argument for Trump stronger. 

“We simply don’t have a real country if justice depends on politics,” Mr. Vance wrote on Twitter.  

- This story includes wire reports