Donald Trump called for his supporters to protest his supposedly imminent arrest as a New York grand jury investigates hush money payments to women who alleged sexual encounters with him. Despite no evidence that Manhattan prosecutors have given any notice to him or his lawyers, Trump declared on his social media platform that he expects to be taken into custody on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. (Actually, the indictment is expected Monday or Wednesday, Politico reports.) Trump's message seemed designed to preempt an announcement from prosecutors and to galvanize outrage from his base of supporters. He sent a fundraising email to supporters while influential Republicans in Congress issued statements in his defense. Trump raised the prospect of civil unrest, saying, "“WE JUST CAN’T ALLOW THIS ANYMORE. THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is thought to be eyeing charges in the hush money investigation, and recently offered Trump a chance to testify before the grand jury. Law enforcement officials are bracing for the public safety ramifications of an unprecedented prosecution of a former president. There has been no public announcement of any time frame for the grand jury’s secret work in the case. Robert Costello, a New York defense attorney who briefly advised former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is expected to testify Monday before the grand jury. Trump charged that “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.” A a lawyer for Trump said his Truth Social post was based on media reports. Should Trump be indicted, 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 Trump's latest posts, Bragg told office employees in an email that “we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,”
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