Pending possible indictment of Donald Trump

Donald Trump - American businessman and politicianDonald Trump was born on June 14, 1946 in New York hopes to show strength today by holding his first rally for the 2024 presidential election campaign in Waco, Texas, which has become famous for the resistance against the law enforcement authorities, BTA reported, citing AP.

The former president will meet supporters at the Waco airport.

In 1993, an attempt by law enforcement officials to storm a compound belonging to the Klonka Davidova religious cult led to a shootout and a 51-day siege that ended in a fire that killed dozens of people.

The rally will come as Trump has rebuked prosecutors, called for protests and raised the question of whether he could become the first former president in US history to be indicted.

Prosecutors: Trump created false expectation he would be arrested

Some of his recent remarks resemble words he used before Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop the transfer of power after he lost the election.

"What kind of person do you have to be to indict another person, in this case a former President of the United States and leading candidate (definitely!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a crime when it is known that no crime was committed and that the eventual death or destruction because of such a false accusation could be catastrophic for our country?" Trump wrote yesterday on social networks.

His meeting with his supporters was scheduled even before it was known that he could be charged in connection with payments from 2016, made at the time to buy the silence of women with whom he allegedly had sex relations.

Trump has denied the women's allegations.

Holding the rally at this exact moment would give Trump an opportunity to cast himself as the victim of a politically motivated "witch hunt" as he fights for a second term in the White House. 

For weeks, Trump has resisted the investigation.

In a move that appeared to be aimed at pre-empting formal charges and inciting his loyalists, he said last Saturday that he would be arrested next Tuesday.

While that didn't happen, Trump used the days afterward to try to shape public opinion, saying, for example, that the Manhattan district attorney's office had descended into "total chaos."

Trump also made repeated personal attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, calling him a "danger to our country" who "must be removed immediately."

On Thursday, he tried to connect Bragg, Manhattan's first black district attorney, with George Soros, a liberal billionaire donor who does not know Bragg.

"A SOROS-BACKED ANIMAL, THIS IS NOT A LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO," Trump said of Bragg.

The former president has repeatedly called on his supporters to protest and take their country back, not let it fall apart.

A powdery substance was found yesterday in a threatening letter in the Bragg post office, authorities said.

Officials later determined she was out of danger.

Bragg's office responded by saying it does not tolerate attempts to threaten the rule of law in New York.

Even before the threatening letter, Democrats warned that Trump's rhetoric could lead to public violence.

"His comments are dangerous and irresponsible, and if he continues like this, someone could get killed," said Democrat Hakeem Jeffrey. 

Donald Trump: I expect to be arrested on March 21

The Trump investigation is related to a $130,000 bribe payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, which Trump's longtime lawyer Michael Cohen made while Trump was busy with his 2016 campaign. Trump then returned the money to their lawyer and they were booked as legal expenses.

Trump is also under investigation in Georgia for his attempts to manipulate the results of the 2020 election, his dealing in classified documents and his role in the January 6 attack.

Donald Trump

USA

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