Trump news live updates: N.Y. grand jury could render indictment in hush money case

Beware of fake, AI-generated pictures of Trump’s arrest

If you’re seeing pictures of an arrest of Trump, greet them with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Plenty of fake pictures generated by now-common artificial intelligence programs are floating around purporting to show the former president getting arrested.

The proliferation of artificial intelligence technology that can generate hyperrealistic pictures based on simple text prompts has opened the door for plenty of misleading images to circulate online. It can be hard to tell the real ones from the fake ones.

Stormy Daniels says she’ll ‘dance down the street’ if Trump were to go to jail

Adult film star Stormy Daniels said Tuesday she would “dance down the street” if the former president were indicted and sentenced to prison time.

Daniels, who is at the heart of the New York grand jury’s investigation into Trump, was retweeting someone who claimed she accepted money to frame Trump.

“Sooo…tiny paid me to frame himself? You sound even dumber than he does during his illiterate ramblings. And I won’t walk, I’ll dance down the street when he is “selected” to go to jail,” she tweeted.

While the grand jury is expected to make a decision in its probe soon, which could return an indictment for Trump, prison time for the former president is highly unlikely.

Daniels claimed she had an affair with Trump, which he has denied.

Trump continues his criticism of Cohen

Trump has continued to publicly criticize his former lawyer Cohen, arguing the key witness who already went before the grand jury shouldn’t be believed.

“It is being said that disbarred lawyer Michael Cohen was put out to dry today after his highly respected former attorney and legal adviser, Robert Costello, made a great impression not only on the D.A.’s Office, but the grand jury itself. He is known to be a great lawyer and highly honorable man. He stated to the media that he could no longer listen to the lies that Cohen was spreading. He told the TRUTH, with papers, documents, and backup. He left ZERO doubt.THE D.A. WILL DO THE RIGHT THING!”

Trump on Truth Social Experts: Don’t expect DeSantis to ride to Trump’s rescue

Some on the far right have taken to social media calling on Ron DeSantis to block Trump from getting extradited to New York if he decides not to surrender on a possible criminal charge, but legal experts tell NBC News there’s little to nothing that the Florida governor could do in that unlikely event — even if he wanted to.

While interstate extradition requests do have to go through governors’ offices, the U.S. Constitution gives them little choice but to comply: “A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.”

New York defense lawyer Ron Kuby, who was involved in a 1991 case seeking to block a person accused of murder from being extradited from New York to Florida, recounted that an appeals court quickly shut the door.

Governors can order reviews into whether the paperwork is in order, which can slow the process down for a finite period of time, but “they have absolutely no authority to stop extradition,” he said.

Attorney Daniel Horwitz, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, agreed. He called the idea that DeSantis could block extradition “inane.”

The scenario is also unlikely because the relationship between DeSantis and Trump appears to be at an all-time low. Asked Monday if he’d play a role in Trump’s possible extradition, DeSantis said he is “not going to be involved in it in any way,” and Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina told NBC News last week that his client plans to surrender if indicted.

The liberal Kuby predicted Trump would want to come to court. “The show will be here. He’ll be the star,” he said.

What has Michael Cohen said under oath?

Michael Cohen has testified under oath before — in 2019 at the House Oversight Committee. He discussed the payment to Daniels.

“In 2016, prior to the election, I was contacted by Keith Davidson, who is the attorney — or was the attorney for Ms. Clifford, or Stormy Daniels. And after several rounds of conversations with him about purchasing her life rights for $130,000, what I did, each and every time, is go straight into Mr. Trump’s office and discuss the issue with him, when it was ultimately determined, and this was days before the election, that Mr. Trump was going to pay the $130,000, in the office with me was Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. He acknowledged to Allen that he was going to pay the 130,000, and that Allen and I should go back to his office and figure out how to do it.

Michael Cohen in 2019 before the House Oversight Committee Capitol Police prepare for possible protests if Trump is indicted

U.S. Capitol Police will be taking security precautions in case there are demonstrations over an indictment of former President Donald Trump, the Senate sergeant at arms said Monday in a notice to senators’ offices.

“While law enforcement is not tracking any specific, credible threats against the Capitol or state offices, there is potential for demonstration activity,” the sergeant at arms said in an email to Senate staff members. Capitol Police are “working with law enforcement partners, so you may observe a greater law enforcement presence on Capitol Hill.”

Trump indicated Saturday that he would be arrested Tuesday, citing “illegal leaks” in the New York County district attorney’s hush money probe, and called for his supporters to protest.

Porn stars and grooming allegations: How the Trump-DeSantis cold war turned hot

In the meantime, Trump world social media influencers and acolytes raked DeSantis over virtual coals, pointing to his silence as complicity in — or at least indifference to — New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s pursuit of Trump, the GOP’s top leader.

Behind the scenes, Trump aides fanned the flames, targeted the Florida governor in news releases and cheered as the Trump world influencers slammed him on Twitter and Truth Social.

When DeSantis finally spoke Monday at a news conference in Tallahassee, Florida, he took shots at Bragg — and at Trump.