YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — Former United States President Donald Trump could be indicted and arrested this week. According to reports that began circulating earlier, a Manhattan grand jury could order Trump’s arrest over charges of fraud for his allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to cover up an affair that occurred ten years earlier. The incident, should it come to pass, will mark the first-ever indictment of a US president. However, netizens are already sharing artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images depicting Trump’s arrest.
In the wiledly-circlulated images, the former president can be seen fighting with law enforcement authorities as they drag him away.
The images were first shared by Eliot Higgins, who are a British journalist and the founder of the investigative journalism platform Belingcat.
While the pictures were made as a joke, some users took them seriously and began circulating them as if they happened. Several news portals also published the pictures, causing a national stir. This made the New York Police Department issue a statement clarifying that there has been no such arrest.
“Donald Trump has not been taken into custody by the New York City Police Department,”
the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
Moreover, other deep fake pictures included scenes where his wife Melania Trump, and their son, Donald Trump Jr, can be seen protesting Trump’s arrest.
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What is the Trump arrest controversy about?
Donald Trump’s association with porn actress Stormy Daniels became national news back in 2018. Ms. Daniels rocked the charts when she came forward with an allegation that Trump had been in an extramarital relationship with her in 2006. According to her, the former President’s agents had then threatened and later bribed her to keep her mouth shut about the affair ahead of the US Presidential polls.
To buy her silence, Michael Cohen, who was then the lawyer of presidential candidate Trump, allegedly paid her $130,000 and asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Although Cohen at first denied paying Daniel, he later acknowledged doing it, albeit from his pocket.
This was an important distinction. Besides the scandal concerning his affair, some alleged that the payment violated federal campaign finance laws. Trump hid information regarding the payment. However, he later admitted that Cohen acted on his behalf. His new lawyer Rudy Giuliani revealed that Cohen later received the $130,000.
Cohen later pleaded guilty in 2018 to eight criminal charges. One of these charges included a campaign finance violation in the form of Stormy Daniel’s payment.
Daniel also sued Trump and Cohen and won challenging the validity of the NDA as Trump had failed to sign it.
Republicans allege foul play in the Donald Trump arrest scandal
After a long legal battle, the matter cooled down until Alvin Bragg took over as the new district attorney in Manhattan in 2021. He ordered his office to re-open the case and investigate it further. This was around the time Trump left the White House.
Last week, Trump told his followers through a post on his social media Truth that he expects to be arrested this week.
Ever since the news broke, Republicans have been running from pillar to post to show support for Trump. Slamming the Biden Administration for targeting the former President, several leaders of the party questioned the District Attorney’s intentions.
“A Trump indictment would be a disgusting abuse of power. The DA should be put in jail,”
Republican Senator Rand Paul tweeted.
Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the US Congress, also slammed DA Alvin Bragg. He and his colleagues highlighted Bragg’s alleged association with controversial billionaire George Soros in a bid to discredit him.
Meanwhile, the Grand Jury investigating the former President canceled its scheduled session on March 2022. With the noose tightening on Donald Trump’s neck, the outcome of this indictment and potential arrest will send tremors in American politics.
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