On his Truth Social platform, the ex-president of the US, Donald Trump, wrote a message in all-caps, stating his anticipation of being arrested on the upcoming Tuesday. He also encouraged his supporters to participate in protests, which is reminiscent of his previous tweets that urged protests before the US Capitol attack in January 6, indicating a threatening tone.
In 2016, Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, approached media outlets and offered to sell her account of an alleged extramarital affair with Donald Trump in 2006. When Trump’s team became aware of this, his lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence, which is not illegal. However, when Trump repaid Cohen, the payment was falsely recorded as legal fees. As a result, prosecutors in New York have charged Trump with a misdemeanor for falsifying business records.
You Can Also Read: Is Saudi-Iran collaboration a setback for Israel and US?
Earlier this year, the New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg established a grand jury to investigate whether there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the former US president regarding the payments made to Stormy Daniels. The grand jury operates in private and is created by a prosecutor to assess whether there is enough evidence to proceed with charges in a case. If the grand jury decides to file charges, it would be the first time a criminal case has been initiated against a former US president.
The scandal turned into legal trouble
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels were involved in a highly publicized controversy in 2018 regarding an alleged affair that took place between them in 2006. Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is a former adult film actress who claimed that she had an extramarital affair with Trump in 2006, while he was still married to Melania Trump.
In 2016, just before the presidential election, Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, arranged for a $130,000 payment to Daniels in exchange for her signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) regarding the affair. However, Daniels went public with her story in 2018, claiming that the NDA was invalid because Trump had never signed it himself.
Trump and his legal team denied Daniels’ claims, but the story became a major scandal and dominated the news cycle for several weeks. Daniels also filed a lawsuit against Trump to invalidate the NDA and to seek damages for defamation, as she claimed that Trump had publicly accused her of lying.
The controversy surrounding the alleged affair and payment to Daniels has been a significant source of controversy for Trump throughout his presidency and beyond, with many people questioning the ethics of the payment and the potential implications for Trump’s personal and political reputation.
Who is Michael Cohen and what did he do?
Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, played a significant role in the controversy surrounding Stormy Daniels and her alleged affair with Trump.
Cohen admitted in court in 2018 that he had paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket just weeks before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair with Trump. He also said that he had acted on Trump’s instructions in making the payment, which some legal experts have argued could amount to an illegal campaign contribution.
Cohen later pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including campaign finance violations, and was sentenced to three years in prison. He testified before Congress in 2019, during which he implicated Trump in a number of potential illegal actions, including the hush money payment to Daniels.
Donald Trump’s reaction
According to sources, Donald Trump’s recent frenzied posts reflect his anxiety and panic over the possibility of facing criminal charges, which he is unable to stop as the district attorney’s office moves forward with the case. While some of Trump’s allies have suggested that an indictment in the hush money case could benefit him politically, Trump himself is deeply fearful of criminal charges. He has been discussing the case daily with his advisers and considering various scenarios, including whether he would appear in court in person or remotely from his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump has expressed interest in appearing in person at the Manhattan criminal court to turn proceedings into a spectacle before reporters, and he raised the possibility while traveling to Oklahoma for a wrestling championship.
What is Trump’s Republican colleagues saying?
President Donald Trump’s colleagues from Republican Party are vocally supporting their former president. Political experts are commenting that a possible indictment or an arrest will have a long effect on US’s already fractured domestic political stage. The Republicans are already branding the
Florida Governor and 2024 Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis
“Look, I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair, I can’t speak to that. But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush-money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence
“I think it just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country. It just feels like a politically charged prosecution here.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
“I don’t think people should protest this, no. And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either. We need equal justice in America. Do you believe this is equal justice? Are you proud of what the Manhattan D.A. is doing?”
