Former US President Donald Trump has claimed that the investigation against him for allegedly buying the silence of a porn actress is a form of “election meddling” and has been orchestrated by “crooks” ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Trump, who is under investigation in New York state for a $130,000 payment in 2016 to porn actress and director Stormy Daniels, has claimed the investigation by Manhattan US Attorney Alvin Bragg is a “scam.” Trump has accused Bragg of trying to cheat in the election and said the investigation is about election meddling.
Trump has insisted that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him by Democratic President Joe Biden and has accused Bragg of being dishonest and a crook who hates the country. The grand jury in the case is tentatively due to meet Wednesday. If it votes in favor of the indictment, prosecutor Bragg will have to abide by it and make it public. In the following days, Trump would then have to appear in court in Manhattan to be served with the indictment by a judge and would briefly be “under arrest” to be photographed and fingerprinted. He would then have to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
If the payment was not properly credited, it could result in a misdemeanor for accounting falsification, although at the same time, he could have violated the campaign finance law, which can carry a 4-year prison sentence. Trump has denied the affair and called the investigation a “witch hunt.” Meanwhile, a Secret Service agent stands guard outside the Mar-a-Lago complex, the residence of the former president of the United States in Palm Beach, Florida.