Donald Trump Returns to Tulsa Under Pressure
Trump #Trump
Former President Donald Trump will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday amid reports that he could be indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as soon as next week.
Trump will visit the NCAA Wrestling Tournament at the Bank of Oklahoma (BOK) Center in Tulsa, according to the Tulsa County GOP, which has encouraged supporters to welcome Trump.
Speculation has grown that Trump could be facing indictment by prosecutors in New York arising from the Manhattan DA’s probe into a $130,000 reimbursement paid to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for a payment he made to adult film actor Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Any potential indictment would likely focus on Trump’s company classifying the reimbursement to Cohen as legal expenses. It is against New York state law for companies to misclassify the nature of expenses and such a misclassification can lead to a misdemeanor charge.
That charge can be raised to a felony if the misstatement took place in order to cover up another crime. Cohen previously pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges after helping to arrange the payments to Daniels.
The Republican Party of Tulsa County announced Trump’s visit to the city on Facebook on Friday, writing: “Get your flags out!! Put on your patriotic attire and let’s welcome Trump to Tulsa!!”
The post added that Trump would be at the BOK Center and said: “We are waiting on the route and locations for welcoming him.”
In a statement about the visit, the Tulsa County GOP pointed to the 2024 presidential race, saying: “The race for President begins here!! Let’s show him just how ‘welcoming’ a city Tulsa is.”
Trump held a campaign event at the BOK Center in June 2020 and was met with thousands of empty seats, according to reports at the time. Trump and then Vice President Mike Pence canceled an appearance at an outdoor overflow rally that was also sparsely attended.
There were suggestions that TikTok users and fans of Korean pop music had inflated the expected attendance at the event by registering for hundreds of thousands of tickets as a prank but Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale denied this was the case.
Saturday’s event is not a Trump campaign rally, but the former president will be attending part of the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which are taking place at the BOK Center from March 16 to 18.
Trump’s visit to Tulsa comes ahead of his first formal 2024 campaign rally, which will be held in Waco, Texas on March 25. However, the former president may be facing indictment before that date.
NBC New York reported on Friday that local, state, and federal law enforcement are preparing for the possibility of an indictment as early as next week, citing five senior officials familiar with the matter.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and strongly criticized the investigation, while his lawyer Joseph Tacopina has said the former president will surrender to face charges if he’s indicted by the grand jury in the case.
Newsweek has reached out to former President Trump’s office for comment via email.
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