Former President Donald Trump has predicted that he will be indicted on Tuesday when the Manhattan District Attorney’s office wraps up its investigation.
Trump’s indictment would be the first time a former president has been charged with a crime in American history.
What is an indictment?
An indictment is a formal charging document used when a person is suspected of committing a crime. According to David Weinstein, a former federal and state prosecutor, it comprises charges against the person and must be filed before a case may proceed in court.
Weinstein, a partner at Jones Walker, a Miami-based law firm, says an indictment implies that a grand jury decided that there is “more likely than not” adequate proof based on testimony to continue with charges.
Every case in federal court begins with an indictment, and other states, such as New York, use a grand jury and indictments to move cases forward.
A district attorney presents evidence to the grand jury and asks the jurors to consider certain charges. The jury then votes in secret on whether there is sufficient evidence to charge someone with a crime. The grand jury in federal court is made up of 23 people. The number varies according to state. If most of the jury believes a person committed a crime, an indictment is issued.
Indicted individuals can hire an attorney or choose to be represented by a government-provided public defender.
If the grand jury votes against an indictment, the defendant is not obligated to plead guilty, and there is no trial. According to Weinstein, this is extremely rare.
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Is Former President Trump Get Arrested?
Have you seen photos of former president Donald Trump getting arrested by police? Those photos are fake. Or, at least they were at the time of this writing on Sunday afternoon. Social media platforms such as Twitter have been spreading pictures of Trump being arrested. Trump hasn’t been arrested yet.
Trump has said he will run for president again even if he is indicted in any current investigations into his activities. Nevertheless, according to new evidence this week, there are new indications that criminal charges may be approaching in one of those investigations, the hush-money case in New York.
Trump might face prosecution for his alleged role in a $130,000 hush-money payment to an adult film actress just before the 2016 presidential election to keep her quiet about a previous affair.
Trump has denied any misconduct, and federal investigators concluded their investigation into the payments in 2019. But last week, Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, testified before a grand jury against his ex-boss. Cohen continued his accusations that Trump specifically directed him to pay Daniels so that his possibility of beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race was not compromised.
Daniels, whose actual name is Stephanie Clifford, claimed to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. She was also requested to meet with prosecutors from Bragg’s office and met through Zoom with her lawyer last Wednesday.
Daniels also promised to testify before the grand jury and during a trial if Trump is eventually charged with a crime related to the payments.
Trump was summoned to testify before the grand jury, which prosecutors say is a sure indication that the process is nearing completion and will result in an indictment. With the disclosure of that invitation, Trump’s attorney in the case, Joseph Tacopina, admitted the probability of an upcoming indictment.
Trump has recently admitted to paying Daniels to keep her from publicly announcing an alleged relationship with him soon before the election. Trump had previously denied his involvement in many public pronouncements.
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Will Trump’s call for protests by supporters lead to violence?
Trump prophesied on his social media site Truth Social that he would be arrested Tuesday in connection with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office inquiry. He urged his fans to protest ahead of a possible indictment by the grand jury hearing evidence in the case.
Kirschner said authorities should take Trump’s call to action seriously because it might lead to widespread riots like the one that occurred at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“This is a play straight out of Trump’s playbook,” Kirschner remarked. “We began with ‘Stand back, standby.’ We suddenly changed our message to, ‘Come to DC on January 6; it’ll be wild.’ Now we have ‘Come to Manhattan for my arraignment. Protest, take our country back.”‘
But, Kirschner believes Trump’s efforts will yield different results this time.
“On January 6, people were upset because they were told their vote had been stolen. As a result, they took it personally. He says, “I don’t believe there is the same level of personal motivation as on January 6,” Kirschner added.
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