America is suspended Monday, March 20 to a possible criminal indictment, or even symbolic arrest, in New York of former President Donald Trump for a case of payment in 2016 to an actress of pornographic films with whom he would have had an affair. A "witch hunt" according to the billionaire, who calls for demonstrations.

The thunderclap, more than a year and a half before the 2024 presidential election, sounded Saturday when the former tenant of the White House said on his platform Truth Social that he would be "arrested" Tuesday.

What for? Citing "leaks" from the New York State justice, Donald Trump expects to be indicted in criminal proceedings after a years-long investigation by prosecutors in the district of Manhattan, headed for a year by Magistrate Alvin Bragg. Never has an American head of state, in office or having left the White House, been indicted.

A call to demonstrate

The 45th US president, defeated by Joe Biden in November 2020 and who dreams of being re-elected in November 2024, has called on his supporters to "demonstrate", and a first "peaceful" rally of young Trumpists is scheduled for 18 p.m. (22 GMT) in the south of the New York island of Manhattan.

Faced with fears of tensions or even violence in this Democratic city – but where the native Donald Trump has support – the municipal police (NYPD) responded to AFP that its "state of readiness was a constant at all times and at all eventualities", and that it was "coordinating" with the federal police (FBI) and the Manhattan prosecutor's office.

Donald Trump, a 76-year-old businessman who has permanently changed the balance of power in the United States, attacked again Monday the "corrupt" services of Attorney Bragg, an African-American magistrate, Democrat and elected (like all judges and prosecutors). A lawyer for the billionaire, Susan Necheles, had denounced Saturday to AFP "political prosecution".

The case of porn actress Stormy Daniels is legally complex. The New York justice is trying to determine whether Trump is guilty of false statements – an offense – or breach of election finance laws – a criminal offense – by paying $ 130,000 to this woman, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in the weeks leading up to the November 2016 election. For what purpose? To keep quiet about an alleged extramarital affair, according to the prosecution.

"There is no crime"

"There is no crime," Donald Trump defended himself on Monday, in capital letters on Truth Social. The investigation accelerated last week. Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer who made the payment in 2016 and has since become his enemy, and the actress testified before a grand jury, a panel of American citizens with broad investigative powers and charged with endorsing an indictment.

Donald Trump was also invited to speak before this grand jury, according to the American press. Another of his lawyers had replied that he would gladly "surrender" to a summons of the New York justice.

"Prosecutors almost never invite the target of the investigation to testify before the grand jury unless they intend to indict him," law professor and former prosecutor Bennett Gershman told AFP.

According to his colleague Renato Mariotti, even if the billionaire is indicted, it is likely that Donald Trump, who lives in Palm Beach, Florida, will voluntarily go to the Manhattan courthouse.

He would be very symbolically placed there for a few moments under arrest, photographed, and his fingerprints would be taken, and could possibly be handcuffed for a few minutes.

But to avoid making it a "show", the real estate mogul "would probably not arrive at the court (in Manhattan) through the front door", in order to flee the cameras and for security reasons, according to Robert McDonald, professor of criminal law and former member of the Secret Service, the agency that protects American dignitaries.

The authorities' main fear would be a repeat of the chaos of the storming of the Washington Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a Donald Trump defeated at the polls in November 2020 called on his supporters to challenge the results.

On Sunday, many Republican leaders came to Trump's defense, including his former vice president Mike Pence, who has broken with him since 2021, and could face him for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

With AFP

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