Former President Donald Trump might be indicted as early as this Tuesday by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The potential indictment would be on charges related to alleged payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. It is not clear exactly what the charges might be, but they would likely involve either falsification of corporate records or campaign finance violations.
The Trump Indictments: What Happens Next?
A big question being asked is how Trump’s supporters will react to such an indictment. There have been suggestions to build a “moat” around Mar-a-Lago to keep Trump from being arrested, or for Trump supporters to pull their money from banks and cause a bank run. There have also been some protests in various places, even though no indictment has been issued.
Per the Associated Press, the New York Young Republican Club is planning a protest Monday, although “there were few signs his appeal had inspired his supporters to organize and rally around an event like the Jan. 6 gathering.”
Trump, in fact, has urged his supporters to “Protest, take our nation back!” — an exhortation that has drawn comparisons to his exclamations prior to the January 6 riot.
Some Republican officials are stepping in to urge Trump supporters not to protest in the event of a Trump indictment. That starts with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, per NBC News.
“I don’t think people should protest this, no. And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either,” McCarthy said at a Republican retreat in Florida. It’s likely that, despite his recent moves to distribute footage to Tucker Carlson, he was hoping to avoid a repeat of January 6.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA), who has ties to both Trump and McCarthy, went even further in encouraging the same thing.
“We don’t need to protest about the Communists Democrat’s planning to arrest Pres Trump and the political weaponization of our government and election interference,” Taylor-Greene said on Twitter over the weekend. “These idiots are sealing their own fate in 2024 because the silent majority has two feelings right now about the current regime. Fear and anger. That is the most powerful combination when election time comes.”
Meanwhile, Politico reported Monday that House Republicans, at that retreat in Florida, “are preparing to demand testimony from members of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office amid reports of an imminent Trump indictment.”
In response to that, Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) said on Twitter that “defending Trump is not a legitimate legislative purpose for Congress to investigate a state district attorney.” He added that “Congress has no jurisdiction to investigate the Manhattan DA, which receives no federal funding nor has any other federal nexus.”
“THE LEAD PROSECUTOR FOR THE CORRUPT MANHATTAN D.A.’s OFFICE WORKED AS A LAWYER FOR CROOKED HILLARY CLINTON AND HER LAW FIRM, LEFT THIS DEMOCRAT FIRM WITH OTHERS TO VOLUNTEER TO “GET DONALD TRUMP” AT THE D.A.’s OFFICE, FOR FREE,” Trump posed to Truth Social this week. (When writing about the potential indictment, Trump has taken to always posting in all-caps.) “HE QUIT IN A HUFF WHEN D.A. BRAGG SAID THERE WAS NO CASE HERE. HE THEN UNETHICALLY & ILLEGALLY WROTE & PUBLISHED A BOOK ABOUT THE CASE WHILE IT WAS GOING ON. THIS IS UNHEARD OF “STUFF.” THE CASE IS NOW COMPLETELY COMPROMISED & REPORTS ARE THAT MARK POMERANTZ IS IN TROUBLE.”
It is accurate that attorney Mark Pomerantz worked for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, resigned after the office declined to bring a case in 2022, and wrote a book about it. But since Pomerantz left more than a year ago, he has nothing to do with the expected indictment. And while Pomerantz worked for a firm that represented Hillary Clinton, he has never acted as her actual attorney.
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Expertise and Experience:
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
