The court hearing for Donald Trump has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, according to CBS News, a US partner of the BBC.
Federal agents will be waiting to guard the former president as he flies in on his jet from Florida to turn himself in.
About a $130,000 (£105,000) payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, a grand jury has indicted Mr. Trump.
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The allegations haven’t been made public yet, and Mr. Trump’s attorney claimed on Friday that he hasn’t even read the indictment.
According to a law enforcement source who spoke to CBS, Mr. Trump is anticipated to take his private jet to New York on Monday before turning himself into authorities on Tuesday.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, noted that it is conceivable that dozens or maybe hundreds of Secret Service agents will be involved in the process.
The official went on to stress that Mr. Trump would not be shackled and that shackles are normally only applied to detainees who are deemed to pose a flight or safety risk.
The hearing is scheduled for 14:15 local time (19:15 GMT).
Joseph Tacopina, Mr. Trump’s attorney, told ABC News that although nothing is “certain,” Mr. Trump will “probably” show up in court on Tuesday.
He added that “the president will not be thrown in handcuffs” and that prosecutors “will try and garner every ounce of press they can from this affair.”
The FBI, NYPD, Secret Service, and New York City court officers are in charge of organizing security.
According to sources, they are preparing for situations that might involve assaults on Mr. Trump, the prosecution, the jury, or members of the public. According to the sources, the district attorney’s office has received “several threats.”
Although the area around the courthouse was peaceful on Friday morning, barricades were being erected in preparation for whatever might happen next week.
Police officers were patrolling, and security preparations were being made. When the former president appears in court, many assume that the region will be placed under lockdown.
According to Politico, the district attorney’s office initially requested that Mr. Trump turn himself in on Friday, but the request was denied due to the necessity for additional time for security measures.
Trump, 76, says he did nothing wrong. He is the first sitting or past president of the US to be accused of a crime.
The indictment’s number of charges is unknown because it is still under seal.
According to media reports, the former president is accused of corporate fraud on more than 30 counts, and Mr. Tacopina predicted there will be 34 charges on Thursday. Yet he admitted on Friday that he had no idea how many.
“We are aware of the charges’ underlying issues and their substance. We don’t know the precise counts or the methodology used to create them,” he stated.
To discredit the probe and mobilize his following in support of him, Mr. Trump started criticizing the judge assigned to his case on Friday.
Republicans, notably Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House, have accused the Manhattan district attorney of using the criminal justice system as a weapon to sway the outcome of the presidential election in 2016. Marjorie Taylor Green, a congresswoman from Georgia who Mr. Trump recently recommended could run for the Senate, urged supporters to demonstrate and declared she would be in New York City the following week.
Alvin Bragg, the district attorney for Manhattan, responded by stating that neither the former president nor Congress could intervene in the case because it had been brought by New Yorkers performing their civic duty.
The US Capitol Police, which is in charge of protecting members of Congress, said they anticipate nationwide demonstrations and have measures in place to beef up security at the US Capitol.
Stormy Daniels, a star of adult films, contacted media outlets in 2016 and offered to sell her account of what she claimed to be an adulterous liaison she had with Mr. Trump in 2006, the year after he wed Melania.
After learning of this, Mr. Trump’s team had Michael Cohen, his attorney, pay Ms. Daniels $130,000 to be silent. There is no crime here.
Yet according to the payment record, Mr. Trump compensated Mr. Cohen for legal expenses. According to the prosecution, Mr. Trump has been accused of manipulating company records, which is a misdemeanor, or criminal offense, in New York.
When he departed the White House for a trip to Mississippi, reporters pressed President Joe Biden on the indictment but he would not comment.
Trump was being “pursued by a prosecutor who has very different political beliefs than the president,” according to Mr. Tacopina. A really disturbing case, then.
He claimed that the former president was “not at all worried” about the allegations.
He’s annoyed and furious. Political persecution targets him. Many people, both on the Left and the Right, can see that.
