New York: On 20 March, workers arranged barricades around a Manhattan courthouse as New York City braced for Donald Trump’s possible indictment over an alleged hush-money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign.
It would be the first-ever criminal case filed against a U.S. president; barriers went up soon after he called his followers to protest, informing them through his social media accounts and predicting his arrest on Tuesday.
Trump raised concerns for law enforcement after him calling for protest, saying supporters might cause violence just similar to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, which was also done by his followers to keep Trump in power by not letting the joint session of congress to count votes to formalize the victory of present-President Joe Biden.
A grand jury was set to look into the charges against the former president of the U.S. late on Monday for allegedly arranging payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
Before confirming the charges against Trump to be warranted, the grand jury still appears to be collecting evidence.
Statement of Trump’s former fixer
The grand jury on Monday heard from the witness, Michael Cohen, the former fixer of Trump who had handed the hush money without the involvement of Trump said, ‘lawyer Robert Costello’.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign finance violations tied to his arranging payments to the porn star Daniels, and another woman in exchange for their silence about affairs they claimed with Trump.
Trump, who is again standing for the presidential election 2024, from the Republican party has denied that no such affairs ever took place.
The investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, claiming Trump’s involvement in alleged hush money payment, asked the court that Cohen be available as a rebuttal witness. On Monday he was told that his testimony was not required.
Cohen testified twice before the grand jury and has said publicly that Trump was the one who directed him to make the payments on his behalf.
Republican colleagues have widely criticized the investigation as politically motivated.
On the concerns regarding the protest, New York Mayor Eric Adams told reporters that the police are monitoring social media and are keeping an eye out for “ inappropriate action” in the city. The New York Police Department said, “There are no known threats.”
Bragg’s office has presented the evidence before the grand jury about the $ 130,000 amount paid to Daniel in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign.
A letter has been sent to Bragg’s office to give documents and testimony related to the probe, by the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives.
During his presidency, Trump was impeached twice by the house, once in 2019 for abuse of power and his conduct regarding Ukraine and next time again in 2021 over the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob who were his supporters. Regardless he was set free by the senate.
But this time the analysts believe it would be more difficult to prove him guilty over the hush money case. Moreover, Bragg’s office has to prove that he intended to do the crime, whereas his lawyers will try to dismiss this case with many counterattacks.
Far more Trump still has to struggle with other legal challenges and alter between courtroom and campaign stops before the November 2024 election.
