Trump says he expects to be arrested on Tuesday (AUIO)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump said on Saturday that his arrest is imminent as a New York grand jury investigates alleged hush money payments to women.

Although Mr. Trump’s lawyer and spokesperson said there had been no communication from prosecutors, the former President declared in a post on his social media platform that he expects to be taken into custody on Tuesday.

In a later post that went beyond simply exhorting loyalists to protest about his legal peril, the 2024 presidential candidate directed his overarching ire in all capital letters at the Biden administration and raised the prospect of civil unrest: “IT’S TIME!!!” he wrote. “WE JUST CAN’T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”

District Attorney Alvin Bragg is thought to be eyeing charges in an alleged hush money investigation, and recently offered Trump a chance to testify before the grand jury. Local law enforcement officials are bracing for the public safety ramifications of an unprecedented prosecution of a former American president.

There has been no public announcement of any time frame for the grand jury’s secret work in the case. At least one additional witness is expected to testify, further indicating that no vote to indict has yet been taken, according to a person familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to publicly discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity.

That did not stop Trump from taking to his social media platform to say “illegal leaks” from Bragg’s office indicate that “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.”

A Trump lawyer, Susan Necheles, said Trump’s post was “based on the media reports,” and a spokesperson said there had been “no notification” from Bragg’s office, though the origin of Trump’s Tuesday reference was unclear. The district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Trump’s aides and legal team have been preparing for the possibility of an indictment. Should that happen, he would be arrested only if he refused to surrender. Trump’s lawyers have previously said he would follow normal procedure, meaning he would likely agree to surrender at a New York Police Department precinct or directly to Bragg’s office.

After his post, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy decried any plans to prosecute Trump as an “outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA” whom he claimed was pursuing “political vengeance.” Rep. Elise Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, issued a statement with a similar sentiment.
“The idea of indicting a former president of the United States is deeply troubling to me as it is to tens of millions of Americans,” said former Vice President Mike Pence, a likely Trump rival, during a visit to Iowa, an early-voting state.

Pence, who has been escalating his criticism of the former president in recent weeks, said the news was particularly troubling, “happening in what appears to be a politically-charged environment in New York where the attorney general and other elected officials literally campaigned on a pledge to prosecutor the former president.”

“No one is above the law,” he added. “I’m confident President Trump can take care of himself. My focus is going to continue to be on the issues that are affecting the American people.”

Pence had been noncommittal when asked Thursday if Trump should drop out if he is indicted. “I think it’s a free country. Everybody can make their own decisions,” he said.

Trump has said he would continue his presidential campaign even if indicted.