Former President Donald Trump is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on charges related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
According to a law enforcement source, Trump will appear before Judge Juan Merchan at 2:15 p.m. in Merchan’s courtroom on the 15th floor at 100 Centre Street in New York City.
The indictment, which remains sealed, is part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush money payments made by Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen to Daniels in 2016.
Trump’s personal attorney, Joe Tacopina, will be representing him in court.
In addition, a second source has confirmed that Trump has made arrangements with the district attorney’s legal team to surrender without handcuffs.
Detectives with the DA’s office will handle the arrest.
Law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, New York Police Department, FBI, New York State court officers, and the DA’s office, will meet Friday afternoon to finalize details about the logistics and security of Trump’s arrest.
The Secret Service will determine how Trump is brought in, according to the source.
While Trump has denied any wrongdoing and denounced the investigation as a “scam,” a “persecution,” an injustice, and a political low blow aimed at damaging his 2024 presidential run, the prosecutor in his hush-money case defended the grand jury investigation that propelled him toward trial.
DA Bragg rebuffed congressional probing into the grand jury process, writing to Republican House committee chairs that claims of political motivation were “misleading and meritless.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed to use congressional oversight to probe Bragg.
Republican Representatives James Comer, Jim Jordan, and Bryan Steil have asked Bragg’s office for grand jury testimony, documents, and copies of any communications with the Justice Department.
