There is news that the Manhattan District Attorney may indict Trump next week for paying hush money to a porn star (who I assume is Stormy Daniels). Trump could be indicated and prosecuted for several other crimes–crimes related to election interference (in Georgia) and refusing to return classified information. And there may be more. This is a thread track all of this.
One recommendation: when following these stories, to decide if an indictment is political, ask yourself the following questions: If any president behaves in the similar way, what would and should the reaction be?
According to WaPo, here’s what Trump posted on the Truth Social website:
“WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
More from that article,
Meanwhile, Trump’s team has begun fundraising on the prospect of his arrest, after the FBI raid of his Mar-a-Lago home last year led to his best fundraising days since leaving the White House, The Washington Post reported.
“MANHATTAN D.A. COULD BE CLOSE TO CHARGING TRUMP,” one pitch Saturday morning read. “Patriot — With the Deep State gunning for President Trump with phony witch hunts like never before, we had to be sure you saw the *private and secure* message he wrote for YOU. See below!”
Trump and his team are preparing to go to “political war,” in the words of one adviser, to impugn the credibility of Bragg, Cohen and Daniels.
Later,
Trump also wants to force Republicans to defend him against the investigation publicly, the adviser said.
Here’s a tweet from House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy today:
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. 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.
McCarthy will be culpable if violence breaks out. He’s fueling the idea that this a political attack on Trump. I believe he knows this is not true.
GOP threatens to defund the prosecutor as Trump indictment looms from NBC News
Later,
(emphasis added)
Rand Paul: Manhattan DA Bragg ‘Should Be Put in Jail’ If Trump Indicted from the National Review
From Mike Pence:
Trump’s crazed social media posts
A lot of things stand out, but I’ll mention one, which may be relatively minor–namely, the insistence on describing his phone call to Rafensberger as “perfect.” And this is the same descriptor he uses regarding his phone call to Zelensky, asking the latter for a favor (i.e., announce an investigation into Biden).
Another from truth social site:
If we don’t see violence we will be very fortunate. All the congressional Republicans who are boosting Trump’s narrative (i.e., the DA’s are politicized) are also complicit in fomenting violence.
3/24/2023
According to the NYT, hours after that post, DA Alvin Bragg received a letter:
Regarding the social media post with Trump holding a bat and a photo of DA Bragg next to it:
(My understanding is that Trump took down his social media post featuring him holding a bat next to DA Alvin Bragg. I’m not sure if that’s going to get Trump off the hook, though.)
My prediction: GOP enablers of Trump will continue to say reckless, inflammatory things, until someone of high status dies.
Missed this one from yesterday:
(Note: I went to truth social to verify it was posted there.)
Trump’s referring to an African-American DA as an “animal.”
Here’s another on Trump post on Truth Social from yesterday:
Equating DA’s office with “Anarchists and the Devil.” More incitement of violence.
Trump Indicted by New York Grand Jury from WaPo
Here’s what Trump said about that Grand Jury yesterday:
(He thought they were going to recess for a month.)
Here’s Governor DeSantis’s response:
The NYT has other reactions from the right:
Mike Pence to CNN:
Tucker Carlson
Jesse Waters on Fox News:
Governor Glenn Younkin on twitter:
Speaker McCarthy:
Sen. Ron Johnson:
Trump’s social media post:
In contrast to the responses above, here’s a normal, responsible response from a former Republican governor:
Personal reaction
First, I want to say that indicting a former president is highly problematic and not a good day for our country, at least on one level. On the other hand, if this indictment is justified, then sending the message, no one is above the law, is good thing for the country and the world.
However, it’s important to say that Congress should have impeached and removed President Trump. That was the appropriate means of dealing with Trump. I really believe the Founding Fathers designed a system to protect the nation against someone like Trump. Impeachment and removal was the one of the key means to do so, and the Republicans to due their duty to protect the Constitution in my view.
But since that hasn’t happened the burden now falls on the Third Branch to hold Trump accountable. Again, that is highly problematic. The precedent is set that former POTUS’s can be indicted. This is not to say that I believe they should never be indicted, but it’s not a good thing, even if it may be necessary.
And that leads another point: Bragg better have a really, really strong case. The evidence has to be strong. His decision should not only fit with past practice, but should the evidence and circumstances should be even stronger. I hope this is the case.
Finally, I’m sickened by the reaction from conservatives and the GOP–particularly those who do not believe what they’re saying. Incitement of violence by politicians has been totally normalized. I predict they won’t stop until a politician dies (and I actually wonder if that will do it).
(Addendum: The GOP’s playbook includes referencing George Soros, as a puppet master behind Bragg. This is too close to anti-semitic tropes about the conspiracy that Jewish financiers control the world. These politicians at best are being reckless and possibly anti-semitic.)