Bloomberg: Trump will not be handcuffed if he is indicted
Former US President Donald Trump will not be handcuffed if he is indicted in New York, Bloomberg reports, citing a source.
Trump himself has previously claimed that he could be taken into custody as early as Tuesday and urged his supporters to protest.
“According to a source familiar with the matter, although Trump will be fingerprinted and photographed in profile and full-face, he will not be led in front of cameras in handcuffs or placed in a cell. The source said he is likely to remain in the custody of secret service agents assigned to his security detail,” the agency reported.
The case stems from a 2016 payment of a large sum to porn actress Stormy Daniels for keeping quiet about an affair with Trump that allegedly happened a few years earlier. One hundred and thirty thousand dollars was allegedly wired through a shell firm by Trump’s then lawyer Michael Cohen, who was reimbursed for the Trump Organization’s spending by framing it as legal expenses. The former president himself denies both the connection to Daniels and any tax law violations on his part. Trump’s defence is trying to prove that Cohen acted on his own initiative.
Trump risks becoming the first American leader in history to face criminal charges.