Manhattan civil courthouse shut down by bomb threat as Trump indictment looms

Manhattan’s civil courthouse was briefly shut down by a bomb threat on Tuesday as prosecutors next door continue their work on the investigation into Donald Trump’s hush payment to Stormy Daniels.

The threat, called in to the local 911 dispatchers, did not mention the former president by name, nor did it specifically target the criminal courthouse out of which District Attorney Alvin Bragg has his office – located just across Centre Stret in downtown Manhattan. But the threat nevertheless did impact at least one court case facing the former president, according to a reporter for Law360: New York state Attorney General Leticia James’s $250m fraud lawsuit against Mr Trump and members of his family who are also part of the Trump Organization.

The civil courthouse was reportedly closed and searched for a short time. The scare didn’t appear to affect the criminal courthouse at all; a court employee in that building who spoke on the phone with The Independent seemed unaware of the commotion.

Mr Trump told his fans on Truth Social over the weekend to expect his arrest on Tuesday; that seems unlikely, given that the Manhattan grand jury empaneled by Mr Bragg does not meet on Tuesdays, and there are no reports yet indicating that the grand jury concluded their service on Monday.

A looming criminal indictment in the Daniels matter could come as soon as Wednesday, however, as the grand jury is not thought to have further witnesses on their list of persons to hear from.

Mr Trump has publicly fumed about the likelihood of his indictment for days, and is simultaneously involved in another effort to stave off any possible charges for him or his legal team in Georgia where another grand jury just concluded its service in Fulton County.

Following Mr Trump’s call to protest on his social media platform, barricades were erected outside of the criminal courthouse in Manhattan though few pro-Trump protesters actually materialised.