Donald Trump arrest: Seven takeaways from the Bragg indictment

Sarah Westwood

April 05, 05:30 AM April 05, 05:31 AM

Donald Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg squared off for the first time Tuesday as details about the unprecedented criminal indictment of a former president finally came to light.

The politically seismic event unfolded in front of crowds and hordes of media, commencing what is likely to become one of the most closely watched criminal proceedings in a generation.

FACT CHECK: DEMOCRATS DISTORT THE RECORD ON GUNS AFTER THE NASHVILLE SHOOTING

Trump and his legal team traveled to New York City for his arraignment on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records, before which he was processed into the system.

Here are seven takeaways from the day.

ALLEGED NEW EVIDENCE

Bragg told reporters after the arraignment that his office obtained new evidence to justify bringing the years-old case against Trump.

Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, had worked on the investigation without ever bringing charges. Federal investigators too had examined the circumstances around Trump’s 2016 payments to a woman, Stormy Daniels, who claimed to have had an affair with him, and decided against pursuing an indictment.

Bragg said he had discovered “additional evidence that was not in the office’s possession prior to my time here,” which began last year.

That included, Bragg said, more witnesses. His allusion to new witnesses seemed to address a top critique of his case: that he has relied heavily on Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as a star witness.

Cohen has previously lied to investigators and has spoken openly about his vendetta against Trump since the two parted ways bitterly during Trump’s presidency. Cohen is considered an unreliable witness.

In a statement of facts document, Bragg also mentioned the existence of audio recordings of conversations between Trump and Cohen that, the DA claimed, bolstered Cohen’s testimony.

However, those tapes have been public knowledge since 2018, when Cohen released at least some of the tapes through his lawyer to media outlets.

It is unclear why, nearly five years later, those tapes could provide support for a case no other law enforcement agency considered worthy of advancing.

“I’m sure that District Attorney Bragg has new facts,” Cyrus Vance Jr., Bragg’s predecessor, said on CNN when pressed on why Bragg may have decided to bring a case that he personally did not.

EXPERTS AREN’T IMPRESSED

Several legal experts panned the structure of Bragg’s argument as a stretch at best.

Containing few surprises, the text of the indictment released Tuesday reflected what public reports had signaled it might: Bragg used a novel hybrid of state and federal laws to bump up a misdemeanor charge, for which the statute of limitations had expired, to a felony.

The lawyers and former prosecutors who populated cable news panels Tuesday generally questioned the strength of Bragg’s claim that Trump violated federal election law.

In a press conference after the arraignment, Bragg said Trump had exceeded federal limits on campaign contributions. Federal investigators have already looked at that possibility, and they decided years ago not to prosecute Trump over it.

Bragg also claimed Trump had violated New York election law, but precisely how was less clear.

Elevating the misdemeanor charges of falsifying business records to the felonies Trump now faces would require Trump to have falsified the records in furtherance of a second crime, and few legal commentators seemed confident that Trump had actually committed any second crime.

In fact, Bragg did not charge him with one; he only referenced the additional alleged illegal activity.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS REMAIN

How exactly Bragg plans to prove that Trump broke election law remains unclear.

Trump has not been charged with any actual violation of election law. But for Bragg’s indictment to work, prosecutors need to prove that he did commit a campaign violation.

Bragg’s office appears to have amassed substantial evidence regarding the paper trail of payments Trump made to Cohen to reimburse him for the money he’d sent to Daniels and to a tabloid that sat on the story of another woman.

The statute of limitations on improperly recording those payments as legal expenses has long passed.

And the evidence that Trump made those payments specifically to affect the 2016 race is thin, at least as represented in the documents made public Tuesday.

The statement of facts document does contain a line that alleges a political motive from Trump rather than a personal one.

“[Trump] instructed Lawyer A,” Bragg’s team wrote, referring to Cohen, “that if they could delay the payment until after the election, they could avoid paying altogether, because at that point it would not matter if the story became public.”

But the “emails and text messages” Bragg’s team goes on to cite as evidence for that claim do not include Trump; instead, those conversations were between Cohen, the tabloid’s editor, and another lawyer. And according to the court document, those conversations refer only to an effort to delay making the payments in question — not to the election.

TRUMP’S BIG DILEMMA

Trump’s legal team has already laid the groundwork to argue that Trump paid off women claiming to have had affairs with him because he wanted to shield his family from embarrassment, not because he wanted to advance his presidential bid.

That defense would conceivably be stronger if he acknowledged that the affairs did occur and that the disclosure of the affairs would have hurt his wife and young son.

But Trump has never publicly admitted to having sexual relationships with Daniels or the other women who came forward during the 2016 race. In fact, he has consistently denied the Daniels affair.

Hush money payments are not illegal. The only reason Bragg found cause to allege the payments were illegal was to connect them to Trump’s presidential ambitions at the time.

Trump is, in some ways, caught between an incentive to own up to the Daniels affair in order to strengthen his defense against the crux of Bragg’s case and to continue denying the affair to protect his family.

TRUMP DITCHED THE PRESHOW

While news reports had suggested Trump was eager to address the public both before and after his court appearance, Trump instead walked solemnly past reporters and said nothing.

Despite the presiding judge declining to impose a gag order, Trump stayed silent leaving the hearing as well.

Trump’s public demeanor — his stone-faced look and slow gait — seemingly contradicted claims from his aides and allies that he was unfazed by the indictment and even excited by the political opportunity it presents.

Trump returned immediately to Palm Beach, Florida, where he was slated to address supporters Tuesday evening.

BIGGEST MOMENT OF 2024 CAMPAIGN

Trump technically launched his 2024 presidential bid six months ago, but Tuesday was far and away the most attention his campaign has received to date.

Cameras captured his every move for the 24 hours leading up to his court appearance, from aerial footage of his plane preparing to leave Palm Beach on Monday to a live broadcast of the entire 4-mile drive from Trump Tower to the courthouse.

Political commentators dissected everything from his facial expression as he walked into the arraignment to the volume of his voice in the courtroom.

And the state of his primary campaign came under a blinding spotlight during round-the-clock coverage of the event, with few signs of that slowing down after Tuesday.

Whether all this is good for Trump’s chances of securing the GOP nomination remains unclear.

His indictment has so far united the Republican Party around him, at least for the moment; even his top potential rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), decried the criminal charges as unfair.

But as details of the case emerge and public opinion about the indictment solidifies, voters could begin to see the situation as more evidence that Trump comes with too much baggage to succeed as a Republican standard-bearer.

PEOPLE SEE THIS AS POLITICAL

Most people believe the criminal case against Trump is politically motivated — and most people also don’t care.

CNN polling data from this week showed that 76% of people believe politics played at least some role in the decision by Bragg to bring criminal charges against Trump.

The same poll also suggested that a majority of people — 60% of the country and an overwhelming share of Democrats — approve of the indictment.

That lines up neatly with Trump’s overall approval numbers; a poll published shortly after he launched his 2024 presidential campaign found that 59% of people disapproved of him.

All this means most of the people who don’t like Trump welcome the fact that he’s facing criminal charges, even as they recognize the fact that the charges are motivated by partisanship.

Donald Trump arrest: Former president rips 'fake case' and maintains his innocence

Naomi Lim

April 04, 09:32 PM April 04, 09:36 PM

Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican nominee front-runner, was defiant in his first public on-camera remarks since he became the first holder of the office to be charged with a crime.

"I never thought anything like this could happen in America," Trump told supporters Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago, his private resort and club in Palm Beach, Florida. "The only crime I have committed is to fiercely defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it."

HOW BIDEN COULD BENEFIT FROM TRUMP INDICTMENT

Without third wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner by his side, the former president relitigated the federal Russia investigation, his first impeachment over Ukraine, and the 2020 election.

"This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election, and it should be dropped immediately," he said after being introduced as the "next president of the United States."

Observers who wondered whether he would criticize Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York state Judge Juan Merchan were not required to wait long during his 25-minute speech, with Trump also scrutinizing special counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia. The former president additionally had words to say about President Joe Biden, comparing his record with that of his predecessor.

"We are a failing nation. We are a nation in decline," he said. "With all being said, and with a very dark cloud over our beloved country, I have no doubt, nevertheless, that we will make America great again."

Donald Trump, Jr., Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), 2022 Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell, and Richard Nixon ally Roger Stone were among the guests gathered in the former president's gilded ballroom. The former president earlier spoke to supporters who were not invited or could not attend on the phone.

Trump's indignant demeanor was different from the stone-faced appearance captured by the select photographers permitted in the Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday afternoon. There, he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush-money payments he made before the 2016 election.

As Trump was being booked and fingerprinted, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Trump being arraigned is not "a focus" for President Joe Biden.

"Of course, this is playing out on many of the networks here on a daily basis for hours and hours, so he will catch parts of the news when he has a moment to catch up on the news of the day," she said.

Biden ignored journalists who shouted questions about whether Trump being indicted was "politically motivated" before a meeting with his science and technology advisers at the White House

.

Bragg has been scrutinized for his scant charging document, unsealed during Trump's hearing, even by "Never Trumper" Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). In a press conference afterward, Bragg defended his case, drawing parallels between it and the federal investigations into Trump's role in Jan. 6, Georgia's inquiry into whether the former president interfered in the 2020 election, and, to a lesser extent, the federal investigation into his handling of classified information. Bragg, too, stood by the delayed action, citing new evidence.

"We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct," he said. "The participants' scheme was illegal. The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means."

Trump's attorneys held their own media opportunity, defending the former president's rhetoric regarding Bragg and Merchan. Trump had earlier shared a doctored image on social media of him swinging a baseball bat at Bragg and told supporters Merchan “hated” him.

“He’s not going after the judge. He noted there were some issues that might cause a conflict,” Trump lawyer Susan Necheles said.

During their return to Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday afternoon, after flying to New York on Monday, Trump's team disseminated a fundraising email with a manufactured mugshot. Trump aides claim they have raised millions since alluding to Tuesday's events two weeks ago while a grand jury was still impaneled.

Trump allegedly had an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006, shortly after the birth of his son Barron with Melania. Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges related to organizing the $130,000 payment to Daniels before the 2016 election, was reimbursed by the Trump Organization for "legal expenses" while the former president was in the White House. Cohen was also involved in "catch-and-kill" deals with the National Enquirer, which paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for her story about an alleged affair with Trump and a Trump Tower doorman $30,000 for his claims the former president had a child out of wedlock. The tabloid never published the articles.

Trump's next court date is in December, when Merchan will rule on any motions filed by the former president's legal representatives. The trial is expected to start in January, the same month as Iowa's Republican primary caucuses.

Donald Trump indicted: Can he turn Manhattan grand jury vote into 2024 gold?

W. James Antle III

March 30, 07:22 PM March 30, 07:22 PM

Former President Donald Trump’s long anticipated New York indictment, handed down on Thursday, will test whether he can continue to defy the laws of political gravity.

The rumors of the Manhattan grand jury indictment, stoked by Trump himself, rallied the Republican base behind the former president, who has already announced for 2024.

DESANTIS VS. TRUMP AS THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

Rank-and-file Republican voters are animated by the belief that the criminal justice system has been weaponized against conservatives. Trump’s argument is that this can be done to him, it could happen to any of his supporters.

“A former president, a current candidate and my friend President Donald J. Trump is a victim of a corrupt and distorted version of the American justice system and history,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement afterward. “He will be vindicated.”

Trump himself described the indictment as “Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”

“The Democrats have cheated countless times over the decades, including spying on my campaign, but weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before,” he continued. “Ever.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is viewed as a partisan figure. The legal case is believed by some experts to not be very strong. The issues at hand — the charges are believed to be related to the payment of hush money to a porn star — are less consequential than those involving Jan. 6, the 2020 election, or Trump’s handling of classified documents.

But there is no guarantee that this will continue to redound to Trump’s benefit. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is not a declared candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. But the expected contender has already displayed a willingness to relitigate Trump’s alleged affair with Stormy Daniels, a story that might not age well with social conservatives. And central to the Florida governor’s appeal is that he is a no-drama alternative to Trump.

Trump, by contrast, is leaning into the drama. He has denounced Bragg as the latest of his Democratic tormentors. He held his first rally since the indictment reports began circulating in Waco, Texas, the site of the deadly federal raid on the Branch Davidians’ compound in 1993.

Nearly any other candidate would have to suspend their campaign in response to a development of this nature. Trump could easily use his mugshot or images of his perp walk to galvanize the Republican base. He has denied reports that he would welcome being shot during an arrest, but many in his orbit are seeking to turn his legal woes into a political windfall.

"The unprecedented election interference from corrupt Socialist District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a political witch-hunt and a dark day for America,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement.

President Joe Biden and the White House have remained quiet about Trump’s latest legal issues. Many Republicans allege the indictment is designed to aid Biden politically, pointing to the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation during the 2016 campaign.

Trump has survived two impeachments, the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, his 2020 reelection defeat, and his role in a disappointing midterm election result for Republicans with his hold on the base intact.

It is possible that even if an indictment helps Trump in the Republican primaries, it won’t have the same effect in a general election. Trump will carry the distinction of being the first president ever to be indicted, a marker that does not seem likely to enable him to win back suburban voters who swung against him four years ago.

Both Biden and DeSantis are likely to play up the chaotic nature of Trump’s presidency. The headlines surrounding a criminal trial will help feed that narrative.

There is also the possibility that the Manhattan grand jury will only be the beginning of the legal troubles Trump will face, with other investigations brewing elsewhere on multiple fronts.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IN THE

But for now, Trump is betting he can benefit politically from a legal development that would doom any more conventional campaign. To him, the grand jury vote is the ultimate proof of his argument that he is the victim of a sustained witch hunt.

The question is how long Republican primary voters will agree.

Ex-Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti raises doubt about Trump indictment

Ryan King

March 24, 07:12 PM March 24, 07:12 PM

Former Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti raised doubts about the Manhattan district attorney's case against former President Donald Trump.

A staunch critic of Trump, Avenatti highlighted the unreliability of star witness Michael Cohen. He argued that the former president's legal team will tear through his testimony in a hypothetical trial and likely put any indictment reliant on Cohen in jeopardy.

TRUMP SLAMS 'PSYCHOPATH' ALVIN BRAGG AND SAYS ARREST COULD RESULT IN 'DEATH AND DESTRUCTION'

"I have been consistent for 5 yrs: NEVER underestimate the ability of Michael Cohen to screw something up by engaging in stupidity, lies, and sheer f***ery. NEVER. #zeronothero," Avenatti tweeted.

"Rule: If you have to meet with a witness over 20 times to get to the alleged 'facts' and the 'truth,' RUN!!! Because you've got yourself a terrible witness who can't be trusted and might just crater your career and your reputation," he added.

Cohen was Trump's personal lawyer and fixer from 2006 to 2018. During the tail-end of the 2016 election cycle, Cohen took out a home equity line of credit and then wired $130,000 via a shell company named Essential Consultants LLC to Daniels's attorney, according to court records. Daniels is also known as Stephanie Gregory Clifford.

The money was transferred in exchange for Daniels's agreement to sign a nondisclosure agreement to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump roughly a decade prior.

In March 2018, Avenatti worked on a lawsuit on behalf of Daniels against Trump and Essential Consultants LLC to nix the NDA. He waged a massive public relations campaign, railing against both Trump and Cohen in a flurry of TV interviews to great fanfare at the time by Trump critics. About a month later in April, the FBI raided Cohen's home and office.

By August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to a litany of federal charges, including campaign finance violations connected to the Daniels payment. Later that month, reports indicated that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office was investigating the case and was scrutinizing Trump's business empire in connection with the Daniels payment.

Recently, numerous reports have indicated that Manhattan DA is mulling charges against Trump for falsification of documents related to the reimbursement of Cohen paired with a campaign finance violation. Several legal experts told the Washington Examiner that the rumored case against Trump is novel and untested.

Avenatti previously cast aspersions on the case.

"There are many critical facts and pieces of evidence (texts, emails, etc.) relating to the hush money scandal that have yet to see the light of day. And they will unfortunately be very damaging to the prosecution if Trump stands trial. At this point, you simply can't build a case on the testimony of Cohen & Daniels," he tweeted.

In March 2019, Daniels cut ties with Avenatti. She later recalled how she "began witnessing his lies and dishonesty until I realized I too became his victim."

Avenatti was sentenced to four years behind bars for defrauding Daniels in June 2022. Avenatti was also slapped with prison time over a guilty plea for embezzling millions from several clients, bringing his total sentencing to over 20 years in prison.

Both Cohen and Avenatti were disbarred in New York. Avenatti was also disbarred in California.

Cohen has reportedly met with prosecutors and a special grand jury in the case multiple times. Daniels has met with investigators as well. He has publicly maintained that Trump directed him to pay Daniels. Trump has heartily denied wrongdoing in the case.

Earlier this week, the special grand jury reportedly heard from lawyer Robert Costello, who consulted with Cohen before his guilty plea. Costello dubbed Cohen a "serial liar" and drew attention to his guilty plea to perjury for lying before Congress in 2018.

"Atty Joe Tacopina is no Rudy Giuliani/Sydney Powell. The guy knows his way around a criminal courtroom. He will destroy Michael 'Dumb as a Box of Rocks' Cohen on the stand, esp. seeing as Cohen publicly lied for 15 mos. and now won't stop talking on TV. #terriblewitness," Avenatti added.

Trump's attorney in the case, Joe Tacopina, had prior communications with Daniels that were subsequently turned over to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and could complicate his ability to represent Trump and cross-examine Daniels, CNN reported. Precise details of those communications remain somewhat murky, but Tacopina has insisted it's not a conflict.

Trump dubiously claimed that he would be "arrested on Tuesday" of this week, but that never came to fruition. His campaign enjoyed a fundraising boom amid speculation that an arrest was imminent. The special grand jury in the case has been meeting Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, per CBS.

Should an indictment come down, it will mark the first time in U.S. history a former president is indicted. President Ulysses S. Grant was arrested in 1872 for speeding.

White House hopes to keep potential Trump indictment at arm's-length

Christian Datoc

March 22, 09:26 AM March 22, 09:26 AM

The White House hopes to avoid discussing a potential indictment of former President Donald Trump in the aim of allowing the legal process play out without influence from the administration.

Biden and top aides have thus far avoided discussing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into Trump's potential falsifying of business records regarding a hush money payment for porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.

TRUMP SAYS GETTING SHOT DURING ARREST WOULD WIN HIM THE PRESIDENCY IN 2024: REPORT

Trump, on the other hand, has claimed that Bragg is "taking his orders from D.C." and went so far as predicting his own Tuesday arrest over the weekend, though reports now indicate an indictment could be delivered in the next week.

"How can a highly controversial, George Soros backed District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, who presides over one of the most crime ridden, violent, and dangerous Cities in the U.S., with no retribution toward these heinous criminals, bring charges against the 45th, and quite possibly the 47th, President of the United States, who received more votes than any sitting President in history, over 75,000,000, and who is currently leading all candidates, by a lot, when there is NO CRIME OF ANY KIND???" the president posted on Truth Social. "Biden wants to pretend he has nothing to do with the Manhattan D.A.’s Assault on Democracy when, in fact, he has ‘stuffed’ the D.A.’s Office with Department of Injustice people, including one top DOJ operative from D.C.”

Biden has sought to appear impartial from the Justice Department, and allies told the Washington Examiner that the silence regarding Trump's legal situation continues that trend.

"So I'm going to be, again, really careful here as it relates to any upcoming elections, and specifically, I'm assuming you're talking about the 2024 election. I'm just not going to give any analysis, any foresight, any kind of decision or thoughts on that," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week. "We are covered by the Hatch Act, so not going to speak to politics, and I'm just going to leave it there."

Democratic Party officials and operatives added that, by not engaging, the White House hopes to force Republicans themselves to take a side on the issue.

"Trump wants a knife fight," one campaign veteran familiar with Biden's team told the Washington Examiner. "The best thing Biden can do is just say no. It will show the public he's above the fray."

"The primary candidates are going to get asked if Trump should still run if he's indicted, and Biden can just let the whole thing play out as the GOP splits down the middle."

Some Democrats do acknowledge concerns that potential indictments from Bragg's office complicate the litany of other legal issues surrounding the former president, specifically special counsel Jack Smith's Trump investigations.

Smith's team has reportedly gathered evidence that Trump deliberately misled his own legal team regarding his mishandling of classified materials after entering office.

Trump denied the "illegally leaked" ABC News report upon its publication Tuesday night.

"Shame on Fake News ABC for broadcasting ILLEGALLY LEAKED false allegations from a Never Trump, now former chief judge, against the Trump legal team," his campaign said in a statement. "The deranged Democrats and their comrades in the mainstream media are corrupting the legal process and weaponizing the justice system in order to manipulate public opinion, because they are clearly losing the political battle."

The White House, however, opened Wednesday morning by focusing on another potential Republican presidential candidate, accusing former Vice President Mike Pence of continuing "an alarming trend of Republican leaders both selling out hardworking middle class families and undermining basic American freedoms — especially the right of women to make their own health care decisions."

"The American people spoke forcefully on all of these issues in the best midterms for a new Democratic president in 60 years. Americans don’t want their earned benefits cut, they don’t want their freedoms curtailed, and they’re tired of divisive attacks on mainstream values," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said. "They support President Biden’s vision of an economy that works from the bottom-up and the middle-out, not the top-down. And they support restoring Roe v. Wade’s protections of basic freedoms."

Michael Cohen: Trump will 'absolutely' have mugshot, be fingerprinted if arrested

Rachel Schilke

March 19, 06:15 PM March 19, 06:15 PM

Michael Cohen, former President Donald Trump's ex-personal lawyer, said the 45th president will "absolutely" go through standard arresting formalities should the Manhattan district attorney's office indict him.

“Do I think that Donald will be fingerprinted, swabbed, mugshotted? Absolutely,” Cohen said in an interview with Alex Witt on her Sunday MSNBC program. “Do I think he’ll be handcuffed? No. And in fact, I don’t want to see Donald Trump handcuffed and paraded through… because I respect the institution of the presidency.”

SECURITY AGENCIES DISCUSSING SAFETY PLANS AHEAD OF POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT

Cohen's remarks come as several reports indicate District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is gearing up to charge Trump for hush-money payments he made through Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

The lawyer, who pleaded guilty in 2018 and served three years in prison over the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments. Bragg's case hinges on whether Trump authorized his team to falsify business records to list the payments as legal expenses.

Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury this past week. Trump announced on Truth Social on Saturday morning that he expected to be arrested this Tuesday, decrying “illegal leaks” and a “highly political" prosecutor.

“Illegal leaks from a corrupt and highly political Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime and whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far and away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump said. “Protest, take our nation back.”

Several lawmakers and legal experts have referred to the possible indictment as targeting political opponents or chasing a vendetta. However, Cohen insists his hope to hold the former president accountable is not on account of his personal feelings.

"This is about Donald Trump being held accountable for his own dirty deeds,” Cohen said. “I don’t want to see anyone, and that includes Donald Trump, indicted, prosecuted, convicted, incarcerated, because I fundamentally, or the country, fundamentally disagrees with so much of what comes out of his mouth.”

He added that publicly handcuffing Trump would be humiliating for the presidency as an institution and would not send a good signal to both allies and adversaries.

"I don’t want to see Donald handcuffed and paraded through… because it’s an embarrassment to our country,” Cohen said. “Could you imagine our allies and our adversaries, how they could either enjoy this or despise us as a direct result?”

Asa Hutchinson calls on Trump to drop out of 2024 contest if indicted

Ryan King

March 12, 08:58 AM March 12, 09:51 AM

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) urged former President Donald Trump to drop out of the 2024 contest if he gets indicted.

Lawyers for the Manhattan district attorney’s office have reportedly been hinting to Trump's lawyers that he could face charges over an alleged hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels back in the 2016 election cycle. Hutchinson argued that such an indictment would be a major "distraction."

ASA HUTCHINSON CALLS FOR 'MORE VOICES' OPPOSITION TO TRUMP AFTER HOGAN DROPS OUT

"It's out of respect for the institution of the presidency of the United States. And, that's a distraction that is difficult to run for the highest office in the land under those circumstances," Hutchinson told USA TODAY.

Hutchinson has long been an unabashed critic of Trump and is mulling a 2024 primary challenge against him. He has signaled that a decision about whether to run will come in April. The former governor also argued that a plethora of other legal troubles dogging Trump hinder his 2024 chances.

"I know he's going to say that they're politically motivated and all of those things, but the fact is, there's just a lot of turmoil out there with the number of investigations going on," he said.

With legal firestorms mounting on multiple fronts, Trump has been resolute that he won't drop out of the race even if indicted.

“Oh, absolutely, I won’t even think about leaving,” Trump told reporters when asked at a gaggle before his Conservative Political Action Conference address. “Probably, it’ll enhance my numbers, but it’s a very bad thing for America. It’s very bad for the country.”

Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is set to deliver testimony to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The former president is also facing legal scrutiny from special counsel Jack Smith's sprawling investigation over his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, as well as the coinciding efforts to challenge the 2020 election, and his handling of classified documents. New York Attorney General Letitia James is also pursuing a sweeping $250 million civil lawsuit against Trump.

"It doesn't mean that he's guilty of it or he should be charged, but it's just such a distraction that would be unnecessary for somebody who's seeking the highest office in the land," Hutchinson added.