| Over the weekend, Donald Trump said that he expected to be arrested tomorrow. In a post on his social network, Truth Social, he sought to rally supporters and called for protests. Within hours, Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he wanted House committees to investigate whether federal funds were being used for “politically motivated prosecutions.” |
| New York prosecutors have signaled that an indictment may be imminent. But they have not told Trump’s lawyers when the charges — expected to stem from a 2016 hush money payment to a porn star — will be sought. If an arrest is made, it will be an unprecedented event. No U.S. president has ever been charged with a crime. |
| Trump’s political operation is trying to use the news to turn the base of the Republican Party against his expected rival for the 2024 presidential nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. Immediately after Trump’s post on Saturday, his operatives and friendly media outlets began publicly pressuring DeSantis to condemn law enforcement officials in New York, portraying his silence as bordering on treason. |
| For more: Here is a look at some of the criminal laws that different prosecutors appear to be weighing and how they might apply to Trump’s actions. |
| Timing: A statement from Trump’s spokesman did not explain how the former president had landed on Tuesday as an arrest date. But even if the grand jury were to vote to indict Trump today, a person with knowledge of the details said, a surrender tomorrow was unlikely, given the need to arrange timing, travel and other logistics. |
| Related: Trump faces other inquiries into his efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election in Georgia; his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol; and his potential obstruction of an investigation into classified documents. |
