Speculation, expectations precede Trump's unsealed indictment Tuesday
NEW YORK CITY - While the world waits to learn the formal charges District Attorney Alvin Bragg will announce Tuesday against former President Donald Trump, sources close to the issue predict dozens of counts against him.
The specific crimes prosecutors plan to accuse the president of though remain unknown.
The embattled Republican front-runner is sticking to his guns, maintaining his innocence ahead of potential bombshell allegations to be announced later this week.
"It’s not a crime, not a misdemeanor, not an affair," he campaigned to supporters at a Waco, Texas rally.
His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, is singing the same tune, pivoting his attention to Bragg -- alleging politically based prosecution.
"By trying to indict a candidate for presidency, you are trying to affect the election as a prosecutor. You should never be doing that," Tacopina told FOX 5 NY.
The indictment against Trump stems from his 2016 bid for president when Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, allegedly fronted pornstar Stormy Daniels $130,000 for hush money regarding an alleged affair.
"This is solely about accountability. I should not be held accountable for Donald Trump's dirty deeds. Let him be held accountable," Cohen said in an interview that aired Sunday morning on Face the Nation.
The assumed crucial witness in the case had to be reimbursed by the president in a series of payments, which according to reports, falsely accounted the funds as legal expenses.
Former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance investigated Trump during his last term in office.
While he stopped short of confirming whether he authorized an indictment against Trump during his term, he did share this much Sunday morning.
"If I did, it was under the understanding that I knew that we had not finished that work, and it would ultimately be District Attorney Bragg’s decision whether to move forward with the investigation that we were working on or a separate one that he wanted to build," Vance said.
He added Cohen’s guilty plea and prior false statements before wouldn’t disqualify him as a witness in the case against the 45th president.
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"As long as there is corroborative evidence to support what he says, then juries are, as they’re instructed by the court are absolutely free to believe a witness," Vance said.
John Bolton, previously a national security advisor to the former president, noted what he considers ‘deep irony’ related to the matter, saying the person who spent part of his years in office trying to weaponize the Justice Department against his political enemies is now claiming he's the victim of prosecution.
But he admits as a political advisory of Trump, an acquittal or case dismissal on his behalf could serve as 'rocket fuel' for a potential return to the White House.
"He can say I told you it was a political prosecution, I told you I was being picked on, and now I’ve been vindicated," said Bolton.
Manhattan's former top prosecutor considers jail time for Trump 'unlikely,' saying his charges so far appear to be a low-level felony with a maximum 4-year prison sentence or possible probation for the president, if convicted.
But he adds more charges from a superseding indictment or court proceedings could change that scenario completely.
District Attorney Bragg is expected to unseal the indictment against Trump, making the court document public Tuesday afternoon.