Law enforcement agencies and the Manhattan district attorney’s office will meet next week and discuss how to handle a potential indictment against former President Donald Trump — including whether or not he should be handcuffed, according to a report.
It is believed that Trump, 76, will need to be fingerprinted and processed like every other defendant should he be indicted, but Secret Service “will take the lead in what they will allow or will not allow,” including the decision on whether to handcuff the former president, a source inside the New York court system told Fox News on Friday.
Three sources told The Post Wednesday that if an indictment is sought for the hush money allegedly paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, it could come down as soon as next week.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, law enforcement, and Secret Service are expected to coordinate on how to secure Manhattan Criminal Court should Trump be charged, according to Fox News, and the court will defer to the Secret Service and Bragg on what accommodations Trump may receive.
“The battle will be between Secret Service and DA Alvin Bragg. They will decide how and when he’ll get into the building and they are not going to leave him,” the source told the news outlet.
Local, state and federal authorities also told NBC News that cops and security agencies are actively planning for Trump’s possible indictment — and the reaction to it.
The possible counts out of Manhattan Criminal Court would make Trump the first current or former president in US history to face criminal charges.
New York prosecutors have hinted that Trump is likely to face criminal charges over the payments. Daniels met with Manhattan prosecutors for the first time Wednesday, agreeing to be a witness for Bragg.
Five senior officials told NBC News that the interagency planning meetings are precautionary and do not mean Trump is guaranteed to be indicted.
The conversations are happening among the NYPD, New York State Court Officers, the Secret Service, the FBI and the Manhattan DA’s Office, the network reported.
The possible charges would stem from Trump’s onetime fixer Michael Cohen paying Daniels hush money in the last days of the 2016 presidential campaign so she wouldn’t expose her alleged affair with the then-candidate a decade earlier.
Cohen, who says he made the $130,000 payment on Trump’s behalf, pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating federal campaign finance laws in connection to the payments and is now a key witness for the prosecution.
The Manhattan DA is reportedly looking to charge Trump with falsifying business records in an illegal effort to obfuscate his reimbursement to Cohen for the payments.
Trump will cooperate with law enforcement if he is indicted in New York City, the former president’s lawyer told The Post on Friday.
“We will follow normal procedures if it gets to that point,” attorney Joe Tacopina said, adding that Trump is currently at Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla.
Manhattan DA spokeswoman Danielle Filson declined to comment.
Trump has repeatedly denied that he had an affair with Daniels, and said Bragg’s investigation is a “witch hunt” that amounts to “extortion.”
Bragg offered Trump the chance to appear before the grand jury and defend himself, but he declined.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Rosner
