OK, I wasn’t expecting this news today, indeed I’m not sure I was expecting it at all…
A grand jury has voted to indict Donald Trump in New York over a hush money payment made to the adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
No former US president has ever been criminally indicted. The news is set to shake the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, in which Trump leads most polls.
“This evening we contacted Mr Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a supreme court indictment, which remains under seal,” said a statement from Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s spokesperson. “Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected.”
Trump was expected to appear in court for his arraignment on Tuesday, Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles said. At that point he would enter a plea on the charges. New York’s police have been told to all report for duty on Friday and be prepared to deal with “unusual disorder”, according to a memo seen by NBC.
Well. After Trump’s prediction about being arrested failed to pan out last week on the day he claimed it would, I suspect more than a few of us were thinking “well, so much for all of that” and wondering if anything would come of it after all; turns out Bragg and co were just waiting for us to think that and then carry out the plan when we’d stopped expecting it… As for “unusual disorder”, well, that’s already started by the look of it…
A Donald Trump supporter protesting the Manhattan district attorney’s probe of the former president pulled a knife on a family with two small children Tuesday outside Manhattan Criminal Court, according to a court official.
The man and woman with two children in strollers accidentally bumped into the Trump supporter while crossing the intersection of Hogan Place and Centre Street just after 4:00 p.m., three bystanders told POLITICO. The female protester, who held a sign that read “I support Trump, do you?” began arguing with the couple before she pulled out a blade approximately 6 inches long and waved it at the family, according to the eye-witnesses.
“Angelica Rucker pulled a knife from her right side belt hip area and began menacing one of the complainants with the knife as the verbal confrontation pursued,” a court spokesperson said.
Court officers, who were standing outside the building, rushed over, pulled out their guns and ordered the woman to drop the knife, the bystanders said. She was arrested without incident.
“Without incident” indeed. Only surprising that she had a knife rather than a gun; I feel she may have done more than just wave the latter around if she’d had one. The next few days could be interesting, depending on whether or not the people who think Trump doesn’t have the support he used to have are right about that, certainly at least one person was willing to cause trouble in the name of Glorious Leader today; I suppose it depends on how willing the rest of the cult is to do the same… Either way, I can’t see Trump surrendering himself like some commentators think he will; he’s made such a racket about the injustice of it all that I simply can’t envisage him going quietly or willingly. Which means they’ll probably have to take him, and I fear that’s where the real fun might happen. Interesting times, etc…
