Donald Trump has been indicted for alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.
The former president, who to date remains the only US president since 1872 to be arrested, is facing charges for allegedly paying po*n star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay silent about their affair during this 2016 campaign.
While Trump vigorously denied allegations of an affair and hush money, prosecutors insist he sent the sum via his then-lawyer Michael Cohen and violated campaign finance laws in the process.
Following the indictment, Trump is expected to turn himself in to the police. From there, he will be treated like any other suspect and will be fingerprinted and pose for a mug shot as part of the booking process.
It is believed Trump’s lawyers will now negotiate the former POTUS’s surrender and likely arrange for the matter to be as private as possible.
The arraignment will then follow and Trump will appear in a Manhattan district court to make a plea before a complex and lengthy trial ensues.
Bracing for possible protests associated with the high-profile arrest, New York authorities have already set up security barriers around the Manhattan courthouse.
The situation is also being monitored by the White House.
“We’re always monitoring the situation here, as best we can. And we obviously don’t want to see any activity go violent – certainly nothing to the extent that we saw on January 6. But we’re watching this. We’re watching it, of course, closely,” said National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby.
While Trump could refuse to self-surrender, prosecutors would likely attempt to extradite him from his Florida home. The extradition, however, would require the approval of Governor Ron DeSantis, who is a Republican and a former Trump ally.
Since Trump and DeSantis are both expected to run for president in 2024, the latter could use the opportunity to his advantage to approve of the extradition. In doing so, however, he would face the fury of conservative Republicans and MAGA supporters still loyal to Trump.
As Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina already reassured, there will be no standoff between the Secret Service, who are bound to protect the former president, and Manhattan’s DA office.
“There won’t be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan DA’s office,” Tacopina told the New York Daily News, suggesting that the former president will self-surrender.
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