New York City officials reportedly are preparing riot police for possible civil unrest this week with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office potentially bringing charges against former President Donald Trump.
NYC workers on Monday began erecting barricades near a courthouse in lower Manhattan. A Tuesday arrest has been rumored since Saturday, when Trump initially referenced it on his Truth Social app.
Trump's messaging, via Truth Social: "Illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan District Attorney's Office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime and whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week," wrote Trump. "Protest, take our nation back."
Since that pronouncement, many Republican officials have defended Trump, characterizing the potential charges against him as false and/or politically motivated.
There have also been calls from House Republicans to have Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg testify before Congress.
The charges would likely involve Trump's years-old ordeal with Stormy Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford), potentially the same case in which the adult-film star lost her appeal in a failed defamation suit against Trump.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nixed Daniels' lawsuit last March. It also ruled that she would have to pay $300,000 in legal fees to Trump.
Soon after Trump's Truth Social post went viral, The Associated Press obtained an intra-office memo from Bragg, who told his staffers: "We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York."
A grand jury has already been assigned to the case, according to the Washington Examiner.
The jury was reportedly set to hear testimony from lawyer Robert Costello on Monday. According to the Examiner, Costello plans to supply testimony that could rebut the Manhattan DA's star witnesses: Daniels and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.
The main sticking point remains the apparent $130,000 payment from Trump to Daniels during the 2016 election cycle, in exchange for her staying quiet about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier.
According to the Examiner, prosecutors are focused on whether Trump's alleged payment to Daniels amounted to a campaign finance violation.
Also, the DA's office is reportedly seeking to know if the Trump Organization falsified records of the Daniels incident.