Trump grand jury postpones decision on his arrest as deepfake images flood Twitter

A grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to a porn star won’t consider the case until at least next week – further postponing a decision on his possible arrest.

The latest twist in the saga came after Stormy Daniels said her phone records are bombshell evidence in the case and are “gonna hurt” the former president.

The New York grand jury had been expected to meet on Thursday to consider evidence involving Mr Trump’s role involving a $130,000 (£106,000) payment to Ms Daniels in 2016 that prosecutors reportedly allege was an illegal campaign expenditure.

However, it switched to dealing with another case – giving Mr Trump’s supporters an opening to claim the investigation is stalled.

The secretive nature of the grand jury process was underlined on Thursday when prosecutors rebuffed a request from Republicans for records and testimony on the investigation – a request that general counsel to Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg called an “unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty”.

The prosecutors said Mr Trump had created “a false expectation” about being arrested and offered no update on the timing for any possible action.

It is alleged that former Trump fixer Michael Cohen paid Ms Daniels to remain silent during the 2016 presidential campaign regarding an affair she claims took place a decade previously. Mr Trump has denied the allegation.

Mr Cohen spent time in prison on a campaign finance violation in relation to the payment. It’s been reported that Mr Trump may be in legal jeopardy on the basis of falsifying business records as the reimbursement to Mr Cohen was logged as a legal expense.

Ms Daniels responded to a question from a user on Twitter: “I’ve been handing over phone records to my attorney today (they’re gonna hurt!) and planning spring break activities with my kid. It was a wonderful day.”

Speculation over Mr Trump’s possible arrest has prompted a flood of AI-generated “deep fake” images on Twitter purporting to show him being detained.

The fabricated images, now viewed over four million times, show Mr Trump resisting as officers resembling those from the New York Police Department attempt to restrain him.

Some images fabricated scenarios where the 45th president is seen struggling to run away from the officers.

“Making pictures of Trump getting arrested while waiting for Trump’s arrest,” joked Eliot Higgins, founder of investigative collective Bellingcat, while sharing a series of deepfake images that he said were created using artificial intelligence text-to-image generator Midjourney.

Mr Higgins said that, for several images, he submitted the text prompt: “Donald Trump falling over while getting arrested. Fibonacci Spiral. News footage”.

It prompted the New York Police Department to confirm there has been no such arrest.

“Donald Trump has not been taken into custody by the New York City Police Department,” it said in a statement.