The New York City Police Department unloaded steel barricades near the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse Monday morning ahead of a possible indictment of former President Trump, CNN Newsource correspondent Gloria Pazmino reported.
“At Manhattan Criminal Court, the NYPD is setting up barricades directly across the street from court in anticipation of a possible Trump indictment this week,” Pazmino tweeted, appending a video.
Local, state, and federal law enforcement and security agencies had already begun preparing for the possible indictment, conducting preliminary security assessments, WNBC reported Friday.
The agencies discussed security plans for in and around the Manhattan Criminal Court, the outlet also reported. Those agencies involved include the NYPD, New York State Court Officers, the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI’s Join Terrorism Task Force, and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Saturday, former President Trump announced in a social media post that he believed he would be arrested on Tuesday.
Trump, a contender for the 2024 Republican presidential primary, urged citizens to “protest, take our nation back.”
Later that day, a spokesperson for Trump appeared to walk the statement back, saying that “there has been no notification, other than illegal leaks from the Just Dept. and the DA’s office” about the matter, KABC reported. The spokesperson added that Trump would be at a rally in Texas “next weekend.”
Over the weekend and on Monday, numerous politicians, political pundits, and other interested parties offered their opinions on the possible indictment.
Among them was former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Christie, who said Trump was “not a man of his word,” also agreed with Trump’s assessment of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as “partisan.”
The case stems from a hush money payment allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors allege Trump falsified business records by wrongly accounting for the payment as legal fees, a misdemeanor under New York law, the Associated Press reports.
The $130,000 payment was allegedly made by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney. Cohen pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance law violations in connection with the payment.
Monday morning, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-K.Y.) called Cohen “the least credible witness I ever questioned during my time on the House Oversight Committee.”
“He admits that as President Trump’s attorney, he took unsolicited actions and offered ‘legal advice’ without concern for underlying legality,” the tweet also said.
Stormy Daniels, the person to whom the controversial payment was made, met with prosecutors last week and agreed to be a witness for the DA against Trump, the New York Post reported.
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