Donald Trump will likely be indicted today, March 22, but won’t appear before a judge in New York until next week.
‘There will be no arraignment this week,’ a source familiar with the proceedings told DailyMail.com exclusively yesterday, March 21.
This comes days after it was reported that a Manhattan grand jury was hearing whether Donald Trump illegally falsified business records in connection with the alleged $130,000 hush money payment to an adult film actress in the waning days of the 2016 election to silence her about claims she’d had an affair with him.
The former president, who is currently in Florida, is expected to be formally charged tomorrow, after which the Manhattan District Attorney’s office will reach out to Trump and his Secret Service detail to make arrangements for his surrender, according to the insider.
He will then fly to New York where he will be arraigned, fingerprinted, and pose for his mug shot.
The New York Police Department and Metro Police Department as all officers are expected to be in uniform, ready for anything in the wake of the potential indictment.
Officials in New York City and Washington, D.C., are preparing for possible unrest and demonstrations following the former president’s plea to his supporters to ‘protest, protest, protest’ in response to a potential indictment handed down by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump, 76, said last week that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, but a law enforcement official told DailyMail.com that an indictment would likely happen on Wednesday at the earliest.
An NYPD internal memo obtained by CNN shows that all officers are to be in uniform and prepared for deployment on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Daniels’ is also beefing up her security after her attorney said she received concerning messages, including some threatening her life.
Law enforcement officials tell CNN there are currently no credible threats in New York even though Tuesday is a ‘high alert day.’
Washington Metro police are also preparing for protests, but the U.S. Capitol Police ‘is not currently tracking any direct or credible threats to the US Capitol,’ a department intelligence assessment obtained by CNN notes.
On Monday afternoon, the NYPD met with the U.S. Secret Service and the chief of public safety for state court officers with a decision to ramp up security around the courthouse starting Tuesday morning, a law enforcement official told DailyMail.com.
However, the source said the indictment is not expected until Wednesday, at the earliest, and that Trump likely wouldn’t come to New York this week.
‘They had their meeting and discussed a whole bunch of stuff about putting extra lighting out there, how they’re going to put more barriers out there, and send their special response teams in,’ the official said.
‘The NYPD is going to do what they do when the United Nations comes into town, with stepped-up security,’ they added. ‘But they don’t even think it’s going to happen this week.’
‘The indictment may happen, but they don’t think Trump comes this week. I’m told there’s an additional witness who is going to testify on Wednesday, so if there’s an indictment, it’s not going to happen until Wednesday or Thursday, so they think he probably comes next week.’