US law enforcement personnel were on high alert on Friday ahead of former president Donald Trump’s indictment. That was the first occasion in American history that a sitting or former president was accused of a crime.
South China Morning Post said tensions about what will happen next, particularly Trump’s possibilities to unseat US President Joseph Biden from the White House, are increased by his status as the top Republican contender for the 2024 presidential election.
A supporter of former US President Donald Trump holds a “Trump 2024” flag as she protests near the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 30, 2023. – A New York grand jury has voted to indict former US president Donald Trump over hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, multiple US media reported on March 30, 2023. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump’s Indictment: US Capitol Police Boosts Presence in NY
Barriers and blast shields had been in place for a week, and on Friday, all 35,000 members of the NYPD were obliged to report ahead of Trump’s indictment.
Trump Tower was once more the center of attention. But on Friday night in Midtown, the only disorderly activity was notes scribbled on the sidewalk in memory of the Capitol police officer slain on January 6.
Sources told ABC News that Trump is expected to show up in court at the earliest on Tuesday to answer what is anticipated to be about two dozen charges, some of which are felonies.
Law enforcement officials also told ABC News that the NYPD, US Secret Service, US Marshals, and New York State Court Officers met to plan former president Trump’s surrender the following week.
Also, representatives from the agencies will do a walk-through of the criminal court facility, commonly known as 100 Centre Street ahead of Trump’s indictment.
The fifteenth floor has already been secured. The courtroom of Judge Juan Merchan is there. He is the magistrate in charge of the case. Merchan also presided over the Trump Organization trial, which resulted in a conviction, as well as the criminal case involving Stephen Bannon.
READ ALSO: Republicans Wish Donald Trump To Be Remembered By His Actions- But It Won’t Help
Cause of Indictment
Trump was indicted last Thursday by a Manhattan grand jury. Yet, the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office did not immediately make Trump’s indictment details public.
People familiar with the case told Wall Street Journal that Manhattan prosecutors looking into Donald Trump’s role in paying hush money to a porn star are also looking into a $150,000 payment to a former Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with the former president.
This raises the possibility that Trump could be charged with charges related to the silencing of both women.
Since January, Bragg’s office has been providing a grand jury with proof that Mr. Trump was involved in the payment of $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels.
The people claimed that during those proceedings in the Trump’s indictment, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors interrogated grand jury witnesses extensively regarding an earlier agreement involving Karen McDougal, who was named Playmate of the Year by Playboy Magazine in 1998 and who has claimed that she started a 10-month relationship with Trump in 2006.
READ ALSO: Trump Investigation Update: Grand Jury Concludes Proceedings Without Indictment Vote
