On video: New York is preparing for protests if Donald Trump is convicted (Reuters)
The grand jury deliberating on the hush money investigation involving former US President Donald Trump will likely find him guilty today (Wednesday) - but Trump will not appear before a judge for arraignment until next week, according to a report by the "Daily Mail" citing a source The caveat about it.
"The arraignment will not be held this week," the source said last night.
The former president is now in Florida, at his estate, expected to be formally charged today.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office will then contact him and his Secret Service about extradition arrangements, according to the source.
Trump will then fly to New York, where he will be arraigned, his fingerprints will be taken, as well as the arrest photo.
Sources close to the former president said that Trump told his advisers that he wanted to be handcuffed when he appeared before the judge, if he was indicted for his involvement in the payment of $130,000 to porn actress Stormi Daniels in 2016.
According to the sources, Trump believes that if he has to go to court, turn himself in to the authorities and go through the usual process, then it is better to take advantage of the situation and turn the whole event into a "demonstration".
Trump said he wants his hands cuffed behind his back in the prosecution, because he also wants to show defiance in light of what he calls unjust persecution and a "witch hunt."
He claims this will help him in the 2024 election campaign. But above all, the sources said, Trump fears a special arrangement - such as a first appearance in court via video - which, he believes, will make him look weak or a loser.
Trump's legal team in the case strongly opposes the idea of him turning himself in and advised the former president to let them remove him next week, quietly and without fuss, and to plan a remote prosecution, also in light of possible security concerns.
But Trump rejected this approach and told his allies over the weekend that he doesn't care if someone shoots him - because then he will become a "martyr".
He then added that if he was shot, he would surely win the 2024 presidential election, according to the sources.
District Attorney Alvin Berg (Photo: Reuters)
Stormy Daniels (photo: screenshot, CBS / 60 minutes)
It remains unclear when exactly the grand jury in Manhattan will reach a decision on indictment in the case — which would make Trump the first US president in history, a former incumbent, to be criminally indicted.
The sources said they were unsure of the seriousness of Trump's remarks, but District Attorney Alvin Berg may spoil his plans and decided that the former president would not be in handcuffs as he walked past the cameras on his way to arraignment.
The case focuses on the $130,000 that Trump paid Daniels in 2016 through his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen.
Trump then returned the money to Cohen with checks for $35,000 each from his own money, but the payments were recorded as a legal expense - a criminal record.
It is not clear what charges the Attorney General will choose to file against Trump, although some members of the former president's legal team believe that it is falsification of business documents combined with tax fraud, because Trump did not pay taxes on the payments to Cohen.
The police in New York are preparing (Photo: Reuters)
The police in New York are preparing (Photo: Reuters)
New York police are preparing for a scenario of protests in case Trump is indicted.
All 36,000 officers of the department were instructed to wear uniforms and be ready for anything.
Washington, DC is also preparing for the possibility of demonstrations by Trump supporters.
Dinales is also beefing up her security, after her lawyer said she was receiving messages threatening her life.
However, Republican lawmakers and politicians do not appear to want to see a tragic replay of the attack on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021. They said they did not expect the protests to turn violent, but warned of a "political circus" surrounding the event.
According to the sources, "NYPD will do its job with increased security, but they don't believe that will happen this week. "Prosecution may happen, but Trump will not come this week.
There are supposed to be additional witnesses who will testify today, so if there is an indictment, it will certainly be held next week."
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