Advertisement
Trending

Report: Law Enforcement Don’t Expect Trump Arraignment Until Next Week

Advertisement

OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Law enforcement officials are now reportedly saying that former President Donald Trump may not be arraigned this week. The officials met behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the logistics of arraigning Trump over his potential indictment regarding a “hush-money” payments made on his behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign.

A law enforcement source told Fox News Monday that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement discussed extra police and barriers as well as the logistics of closing down streets. District Attorney Alvin Bragg is also reportedly against allowing for a “virtual arraignment” of Trump, which means he would have to appear in New York.

“The source said law enforcement does not expect the former president to be arraigned until next week as the Manhattan grand jury – which has been meeting secretly to hear evidence for weeks – has another witness on Wednesday. A virtual option was apparently ruled out as the DA is opposed to it. However, another source familiar with the discussions regarding the handling of a possible Trump indictment, said that a virtual arraignment for the former president was never seriously considered,” Fox News reported.

“The grand jury has been probing Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to the porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with him years earlier. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, through a shell company before being reimbursed by Trump, whose company, the Trump Organization, logged the reimbursements as legal expenses,” Fox News added.

Advertisement

News broke on Friday that New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg is close to indicting Trump over hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 campaign, allegedly to keep her quiet about an affair the two of them had in 2006.

Reports of an indictment has triggered outrage from many given federal prosecutors in the U.S. attorneys office for the Southern District of New York chose not to charge Trump in 2019 related to the payment to Daniels.

The Federal Election Commission also tossed its investigation into the matter in 2021.

The DA’s reported decision also comes as Trump is running for president in 2024, which has led to some arguing that the investigation and charges are politically motivated.

A lawyer for Donald Trump described the most likely scenario at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate should he be indicted this week by a Manhattan grand jury.

The attorney stated that Trump would not resist and would surrender to authorities in the event of an indictment in Bragg’s investigation into the alleged hush-money agreement.

Advertisement

“There won’t be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan DA’s office,” Joe Tacopina said. He suggested that Trump, whom he characterized as a survivor, would utilize any charges brought against him to his political advantage in the long run.

“Most people would collapse under the weight of this,” he said. “He seems to turn everything into a positive and everything into a boost for his campaign, so I’m sure this will just join that long list of things that people think no one could overcome, but he will.”

Former Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy also slammed NY DA Bragg’s “hypocritical” decision not to prosecute certain crimes amid his current case against Trump.

Test your skills with this Quiz!

“On his first day in office, New York’s District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced all the crimes he would not prosecute. The person elected as the top law enforcement official had a long list of laws he didn’t respect enough to follow. He substituted his politics for the rule of law because that is what so-called progressive prosecutors do. There was nary a word of decent on the left. Felonies would be downgraded, serious cases dismissed or pled down, and prison terms would rarely be solved,” Gowdy began.

“Alvin Bragg was a social engineer masquerading as a prosecutor. To some on the left, showing a photo ID to vote is anti-democratic, but apparently not a prosecutor who ignores the law. And yet, we have finally stumbled upon the one crime worth the full weight of Alvin Bragg’s office. Forget about guns and robbery and acts of violence. What really gets his attention is paying someone to be quiet about sex. To be clear, Alvin Bragg will not prosecute people who pay for sex — that is one the crimes he promised to ignore. To him, you can pay someone for sex in New York and get away with it, but God forbid you pay someone to be quiet about it afterward,” he added.

Advertisement