Manhattan DA warns of ‘attempts to intimidate’
after Trump calls for protest
Alvin Bragg is expected to bring an indictment against
Trump this week over hush payments to adult actor Stormy Daniels in 2016
Edward
Helmore
Sun 19 Mar
2023 16.53 GMT
The
Manhattan district attorney widely expected to bring an indictment against
Donald Trump this week has vowed that his staff will not be intimidated after
the former US president called for his supporters to protest any action against
him.
Trump
triggered a flurry of frantic headlines and statements from his political
allies on Saturday when he posted a message on social media claiming he was set
to be arrested this Tuesday on charges of hush payments to adult actor Stormy
Daniels.
An
indictment from the office of Alvin Bragg is widely expected this week but
officials, and Trump’s lawyers, have clarified they have no certainty as to
timing or what actually will happen in court.
But Bragg
sent an email to his office, obtained by Politico, that did not mention Trump
by name but that did appear to address the case, including widespread security
fears around lower Manhattan courts in the wake of any indictment.
“As with
all of our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly,
and speak publicly only when appropriate,” Bragg wrote.
He added:
“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of
law in New York… Our law enforcement 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.”
On Saturday
afternoon, Trump supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago home and country club in
Florida to show their support. Trump later boarded a private jet to fly from
Palm Beach to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to attend a college wrestling tournament.
Trump made
no mention of a criminal indictment and arrest at the Tulsa event. He appeared
alongside Senator Markwayne Mullin, congratulated the wrestlers and posed for
pictures with supporters, according to pictures published by Tulsa World.
Trump and
Mullin sat in a boxed-off area and stayed for all 10 matches, while Mullin, a
former wrestler, explained the finer points of the sport. Trump talked with
fans between matches, but reporters were kept away.
Speaking
before Trump’s arrival, Mullin appeared to compare the likely charges against
Trump with unproven and largely discredited claims that former secretary of
state Hilary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 opponent, committed criminal security
breaches while she served in the Obama administration.
“They’ve
been after the president (Trump) since Day 1,” Mullin was reported to have
remarked. “Everybody sees this for what it is. It’s not what this country is
about. We had an opportunity to get after Hilary, … and we didn’t.”
“The
[Manhattan] district attorney needs to concentrate on putting bad guys in
jail,” he added.
It was
Trump’s first public appearance since he said in a social media post that he
would be arrested over the payments made to Daniels, a month before the 2016
presidential election. If any indictment is handed down, it is likely to claim
the payments were an illegal use of campaign finances.
Trump
received a standing ovation in Tulsa and held up a defiant fist as he arrived
at the wrestling event while fans cheered. Earlier on Saturday, Trump had urged
his supporters to “protest, protest, protest” in comments made on his Truth
Social platform.
Insider has
reported that the grand jury looking at the case may still listen to one
further witness on Monday, raising the prospect of any indictment coming later
in the week.
Michael
Cohen, the former Trump attorney and “fixer” who was sentenced to three years
in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and campaign-finance
violations, said that Trump’s comments signaled a desire for “another violent
clash”.
“It’s
eerily similar to the battle cry that he put out just prior to the Jan 6
insurrection, you know, especially including the call, you know, for protest,”
Cohen told MSNBC. Cohen added that “it would have been smart for Donald to
write ‘peaceful protest’, but he doesn’t want a peaceful protest”.
Cohen also
theorized that Trump would see his arrest as a potential boost to his 2024
presidential campaign as he frequently has sought to portray himself as at the
center of a political “witch hunt”.
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