Friday, April 19, 2024

Manhattan DA, House Speaker React To Trump Arrest Remarks

-

Early reports that former president Donald Trump will be indicted this week by a Manhattan grand jury have rocked Capitol Hill.

Over the weekend, Trump remarked that authorities may arrest him on Tuesday as part of an investigation into alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. He called on his supporters to “protest” and “take our country back” in the event of his arrest.

The New York City Police Department is already preparing for the indictment…

The NYPD is erecting metal barricades outside of the Manhattan Criminal Court where charges are expected tomorrow against former President

On Saturday, Trump posted the following message to his account:

“NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!, [sic]” Trump posted.

Trump's calls for protest have sparked concern among lawmakers, especially those who were inside the Capitol on Jan. 6th, 2021 when a mob of the former president's supporters stormed the building.

Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reacted to the news of Trump's potential indictment on Twitter, pledging to have congressional committees look into whether federal funding was involved in the case out of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

“Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,” McCarthy said on Saturday. “I'm directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

However, while McCarthy is prepared to leverage Congressional resources to expose any potential links between the Manhattan DA and the federal government the Republican lawmakers urged against protesting Trump's arrest.

“I don't think people should protest this, no,” McCarthy told reporters during the first night of the House GOP's three-day annual issues retreat. “We want calmness out there.”

“I think President Trump, if you talked to him, doesn't believe that either. I think the thing that you may misinterpret when President Trump talks and someone says that they can protest, he's probably referring to my tweet: educate people about what's going on. He's not talking in a harmful way, and nobody should.”

During an appearance with “Fox & Friends” outspoken Louisiana Senator John Kennedy (R) told Steve Doocy that he supports Americans' right to protest but urged them to remain peaceful.

“In America, you are free to protest,” the Lousiana senator replied, “You aren't really free if you can't express yourself.”

“But do it peacefully,” he continued. “Don't be a knucklehead and riot!”

On Sunday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told reporters that people have the right to protest, though she denounced any potential political violence in reaction to a possible .

“I don't think there's anything wrong with calling for protests. Americans have the right to assemble, the right to protest. And that's an important constitutional right. And he doesn't have to say peaceful for it to mean peaceful. Of course, he means peaceful,” Greene told reporters. “Of course, President Trump means peaceful protests.”

The unprecedented indictment hanging over Trump's head stems from a $130,000 hush money payment he allegedly made to porn actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Prosecutors are expected to charge Trump with a felony by arguing that the alleged crime was committed to hide an illegal campaign contribution. The potential problem for Trump centers around how his company reimbursed former attorney Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to related charges and served time in prison.

The payment to Daniels was listed as a legal expense and Trump's company cited a retainer agreement with Cohen. The retainer agreement did not exist and the reimbursement was not related to any legal services from Cohen, thus setting up a potential misdemeanor criminal charge of falsifying business records. A report by NBC News said that Trump personally signed several of the checks to Cohen while he was serving as president.

Prosecutors can elevate the misdemeanor to a felony if they can prove that Trump's “‘intent to defraud' included an intent to commit or conceal a second crime.”

Prosecutors argue that the second crime is that the $130,000 hush payment was an improper donation to the Trump campaign because the money was used to stop a story for the purpose of benefiting his presidential campaign.

In a private memo to his office, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg slammed what he labeled Trump's attempts to intimidate his office.

“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” Bragg said in an email to employees over the weekend that was obtained by Politico and confirmed by Fox News Digital. “Our partners will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated and that the proper safeguards are in place so all 1,600 of us have a secure work environment.”

This is a story. Click refresh for the latest updates.

READ NEXT: Georgia Prosecutors Weighing RICO Charges In Trump Probe

Nancy Jackson
Nancy Jackson
Nancy grew up in the South where her passion for politics first began. After getting her BA in journalism from Ole Miss she became an arts and culture writer for Athens Magazine where she enjoyed reporting on the eclectic music and art scene in Athens, GA. However, her desire to report on issues and policies impacting everyday Americans won out and she packed her bags for Washington, DC. Now, she splits her time between the Nation’s Capital and Philadelphia where she covers the fast-paced environment of politics, business, and news. In her off time, you can find Nancy exploring museums or enjoying brunch with friends.

5 COMMENTS

  1. McCarthy: “I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

    Oh, joy. Another investigation. That oughtta fix ’em. Those rascally Democrats are really sweatin’ now, ain’t they?

  2. Lol another black clown trying to make a name for himself. New York is nothing but a cesspool anyway the same for California. Nuke both of these states corruption and illegals amuck fjb LETS GO BRANDON Trump 2024

  3. Sadly, our code of justice has changed. We, as a society, used to believe in equality under the law. Today, justice is based on one’s political affiliation. Major donors to the Democrat party are as protected as top tier Democrat candidates, such as Hillary Clinton. But those who are influential Republicans are subject to arrest.

    The crime doesn’t matter. If you have committed no crime, they’ll go back in time to find one – even if they need to charge you with assault because you pushed a playmate when you were both 7 years old.

  4. What is wrong with these idiots the ones who need arrested prosecuted immediately is biden his administration family members, and pelosi, schumer, nadler, gates, obama many other politicians, governors, mayors, millionaires billionaires that are footing the bill to destroy America. So much proof our Federal Marshals need to do their job arrest biden all the above

Comments are closed.

Latest News