Donald Trump suggested on Saturday morning that he would be arrested on Tuesday on charges related to the $130,000 he allegedly paid adult actor Stormy Daniels.
The former president also called on supporters to “protest, take back our nation” – in what commentators interpreted as a call to violence – in a venomous rant on the Truth Social platform.
On Friday, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina confirmed the former president would surrender to authorities without complications if indicted.
“We will follow normal procedures once we get to that point,” Tacopina told Insider.
“There will be no standoff at Mar-a-Lago with the Secret Service and the Manhattan DA’s office,” the lawyer — who this week went viral for trying to get a piece of paper from MSNBC’s Ari Melber — told the New York Daily. News, referring to Trump’s Florida resort and the New York County district attorney.
The potential charges against Trump center on allegations of an affair with Daniels in 2006 and allegations that he paid her – through a shell company created by former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen – in exchange for silence before the 2016 election.
Trump has repeatedly called the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which is reportedly looking into whether the payments violated state law, a “witch hunt.”
Cohen, meanwhile, spent a year in prison for his role in the payment, which violated campaign finance laws. And unsealed court documents in the Cohen case show that Trump was involved in the payments.
If Trump is indicted, it will be the first time a former president has faced charges.