He’s also facing increasingly acute legal threats from a special counsel probe into his election subversion attempt and efforts to prevent the government from reclaiming scores of sensitive national security documents stashed at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He’s facing an anticipated indictment in Fulton County, Ga., where a district attorney has been investigating his effort to subvert the 2020 election. Trump’s legal straits aren’t limited to the Manhattan probe. Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in connection with the payment and has denied Daniels’ claim that the pair had sex on one occasion in 2006. However, Trump was never charged over his role. The former Trump attorney who made the arrangements, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges, including one admitting to a federal campaign finance law violation in connection with the payment. One of the prosecutors leading that investigation quit, saying that Bragg had balked at proceeding with a broad tax fraud and business fraud case.īut Bragg’s investigation intensified in recent months on a far narrower issue: whether Trump committed a crime by disguising a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 as a legal expense rather than as an expenditure aimed at boosting his then-ongoing presidential campaign. However, the probe did not result in any charges against Trump himself before Vance was replaced by Bragg at the start of last year. He pleaded guilty last year and a jury convicted the Trump companies on the charges. That probe resulted in tax evasion charges against two Trump business entities and the group’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. It’s unclear whether the potential criminal charge would result in Trump being arrested at his new home in Florida, but one of Trump’s attorneys, Joseph Tacopina, has said Trump would turn himself in to face the charges in Manhattan if a grand jury returns an indictment in the coming days.īragg’s predecessor as district attorney, Cy Vance Jr., conducted a lengthy investigation into the Trump Organization’s business practices. A Secret Service spokesperson said they were not able to comment on specific protection plans or protectee movements.įabien Levy, press secretary for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, said: “In coordination with other local, state, and federal law enforcement, the NYPD always remains prepared to respond to events happening on the ground and keep New Yorkers safe.”Ī flurry of news reports Friday evening said Bragg asked law enforcement authorities in New York City to begin discussions about the security issues and logistics involved in responding to a potential indictment of Trump there. A spokesperson for the NYPD declined to comment. A spokesperson for Bragg declined to comment Saturday.
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