fFormer President Donald Trump was greeted as a hero on his first outing since he claimed to be arrested and charged by Manhattan DAs this Tuesday.
Trump was the personal guest of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on Saturday at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He sat in a box with Mullin and Governor Kevin Stitt, also a Republican. Both men have supported the former president in his 2024 re-election bid.
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Reporters were largely kept away from the 2024 GOP leader, though he briefly yelled Tulsa world that there would be “no politics” that evening. That statement was as true as it could be for a presidential candidate crowdworking with thousands of voters. He did not attend a fundraiser or speak, just hours after posting on his platform Truth Social that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office would arrest him this week for paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 .
The 45th President received a standing ovation as he entered the arena, where nearly 17,000 fans watched the tournament. Trump was seen shaking hands and posing with the national champions as they exited the mat, as well as others in the huge crowd.
“My boys actually asked the question down at Mar-A-Lago when we were down there,” Mullin said Tulsa world how trump ended up at the championship. “When he found out it was going to be in Tulsa, he said, ‘I’ll be there.'”
“The presidents come here because he’s a big wrestling fan, he always said that,” he told the local station fox 23. “I don’t know if you guys know this or not, but he’s wrestled a bit himself and he wants to come over here and have a good night and let politics out.”
Former President Donald Trump salutes fans upon his arrival prior to the finals during the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
Joseph Cress/AP
Trump released his statement Saturday following a growing body of reports about Bragg’s plans to indict him on charges related to the Stormy Daniels affair.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, testified before Congress in 2019 that he paid Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to prevent her from speaking out about an affair, she allegedly had with Trump in 2005. Cohen, who pleaded guilty and was serving time on the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments.
It’s unclear what allegations Bragg’s office is considering against Trump. Prosecutors in the Cohen case alleged that the Trump Organization “misrepresented the monthly payments as legal expenses.” Forging business records in New York is technically a misdemeanor. In the Trump case, in order to make it a minor crime, prosecutors must prove that the conduct was committed in connection with another crime and the former president’s “intent to defraud.”
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Trump’s Truth Social post was unleashed on Bragg, urging his supporters to “protest to take back our nation.”
Without naming Trump’s post, Politically As reported Saturday night, Bragg sent an email to staff saying, “We will not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threats to the rule of law in New York being investigated and that the proper security arrangements were in place to ensure all 1,600 of have a safe working environment.”
