Raskin says Jack Smith likely mulling seditious conspiracy charges against Trump

Brady Knox

May 07, 06:57 PM May 07, 06:57 PM

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said that Special Counsel Jack Smith may "absolutely" be considering leveling seditious conspiracy charges against former President Donald Trump.

In an appearance on "Inside with Jen Psaki" on MSNBC, Raskin argued that Smith should be charged with seditious conspiracy charges, which is a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He pointed to the latest Proud Boys trial and convictions under the charge as setting a good precedent, stipulating that Trump may have been part of the conspiracy.

RASKIN SAYS HE’LL TAKE THE MONTH OF MAY TO DECIDE ON SENATE BID

"Trump could very much have been part of the Proud Boys or the Oathkeepers conspiracy, or he might have been involved in an overlapping concentric ring conspiracy with those conspiracies," Raskin said. "So we don't have a system of justice, I hope, as I said at the January 6 hearings, where the foot soldiers and the ringleaders down below go to jail and the ringleaders above get a free pass and get to continue their insurrectionist assault on democratic institutions."

The Maryland Democrat went on to praise the work of the Department of Justice, pointing to the number of arrests and convictions as proof that an insurrection took place.

"So we've seen a lot of justice take place here," Raskin said. "The Department of Justice has been doing an excellent job. More than 1000 arrests. Hundreds of convictions have taken place. More than a dozen people have been convicted of seditious conspiracy completely refuting those who said well how could this be an insurrection if nobody was trying to overthrow the government? Well, now they have their answer. More than a dozen people have been convicted of that."

He also pointed to the unsuccessful second impeachment of the president as evidence that Trump had taken part in an insurrection.

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"And Donald Trump, of course, was impeached by a 232 vote margin in the House for inciting insurrection against the union and 57 of 100 senators agreed that he had incited an insurrection against the union," Raskin said. "We didn't reach the magic two-thirds number to convict the president, and yet we have robust concurrent majorities of both houses of Congress declaring that that's precisely what he did. As a matter of constitutional fact."

Raskin served as a member of the Jan. 6 Committee, repeatedly arguing that Trump had led an insurrection against the United States government, and should likewise be charged as such.

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 arrest: Former president arrives at Manhattan courthouse for arraignment in hush money case

Cami Mondeaux

April 04, 01:24 PM April 04, 01:36 PM

Former President Donald Trump arrived at the courthouse in downtown Manhattan on Tuesday to surrender himself to District Attorney Alvin Bragg before his arraignment is scheduled to take place later in the afternoon.

Trump emerged from Trump Tower just after 1 p.m. wearing a suit and red tie while pumping his fist to the crowd gathered outside the building. He then got into his motorcade along with his security detail to make the drive to lower Manhattan.

TRUMP’S GAME PLAN TO SLOW DOWN CRIMINAL CASE

Trump arrived at Bragg’s office at 1:25 p.m. to be escorted to Judge Juan Merchan, who will hand down the former president’s criminal charges. The streets were lined with dozens of journalists and Trump supporters in the hours before his arrival, with some camping out in front of the courthouse overnight.

Trump posted on his Truth Social account just minutes before he surrendered to New York authorities, calling the moment "surreal."

"Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse," he wrote. "Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can't believe this is happening in America. MAGA!"

Trump is scheduled to appear before Merchan around 2:15 p.m. in a proceeding that is expected to be quick and understated, as he is not expected to be placed in handcuffs or have a mugshot taken. However, the arraignment marks a historic moment as Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges — a precedent that has riled up much of his base, who decry the charges as being politically motivated.

The former president is expected to address reporters before he enters the courtroom, where he'll make his first public statements since arriving in New York for his arraignment.

The scene outside the courthouse got particularly heated in the hours ahead of Trump's arrival, as a group of Trump supporters clashed with some counterprotesters prompting a response from law enforcement. The group of counterprotesters held a large banner reading, "Trump lies all the time," which caused a supporter of the former president to charge the group and begin ripping the sign.

Police were able to disperse the altercation and began conducting additional security sweeps outside the courthouse.

It’s not yet clear whether Trump will need to post bail on Tuesday afternoon. Merchan will make that decision after announcing the charges.

Trump’s indictment has remained sealed since being announced on Thursday, but it’s been reported that he faces at least 34 criminal counts including falsifying business records. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will plead not guilty.

Trump arrived in New York just before 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon before he headed to Trump Tower for the night ahead of his Tuesday arraignment. The former president released a statement on his Truth Social account just hours after his arrival, accusing Bragg of leaking the details of his indictment to the press.

"Wow! District Attorney Bragg just illegally LEAKED the various points, and complete information, on the pathetic Indictment against me," Trump wrote. "This means that he MUST BE IMMEDIATELY INDICTED. Now, if he wants to really clean up his reputation, he will do the honorable thing and, as District Attorney, INDICT HIMSELF."

Law enforcement in New York have increased security detail around the courthouse ahead of Trump's appearance, with Mayor Eric Adams warning protesters not to get too rowdy — specifically calling out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who will lead a protest outside the courthouse on Tuesday.

“While there may be some rabble rousers thinking about coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves,” Adams said.

Greene shot back at Adams, accusing the New York mayor of using intimidation tactics to silence opposition.

“Delusional [Eric Adams] is trying to intimidate, threaten, and stop me from using my 1st amendment rights to peacefully protest the Democrat’s unconstitutional weaponization of our justice system against our top Republican Presidential candidate, President Trump,” she said in a tweet. “Should I be the one concerned that the mayor of NYC will weaponize his government or maybe his thugs like DA Alvin Bragg against me?”

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was also seen outside the courthouse hours before Trump's arraignment began as he denounced the charges, noting it sets a dangerous precedent.

"What stops the next prosecutor in two years?” he told reporters.

Trump’s surrender comes after a grand jury in Manhattan voted on Thursday to indict the former president on charges related to a hush money case that emerged during his first White House bid in 2016.

Reports of a looming indictment emerged after former Trump attorney Michael Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury multiple times earlier this month. Cohen was convicted in 2018 after pleading guilty to paying two women who accused Trump of sexual affairs to be silent, including adult film star Stormy Daniels.

As part of the scheme, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 and was later reimbursed by the Trump Organization.

Manhattan prosecutors later opened an investigation into whether Trump falsified business records to list the reimbursement as a legal expense. Such a crime is a misdemeanor in New York but could be increased to a felony if Bragg's office argues the fraud was intended to conceal a second crime.

At the time of Cohen’s trial, federal prosecutors did not press charges against Trump due to guidance from the Justice Department that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. However, prosecutors revived discussions about possible charges shortly before Trump left office in 2021. They ultimately declined to charge him.

Joe Manchin says Trump indictment 'very sad time for America'

Jack Birle

April 02, 02:39 PM April 02, 02:39 PM

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) called the indictment of former President Donald Trump a "very sad time for America" but vowed to "wait and see what comes out" before rushing to a judgment on the matter.

The centrist Democrat also cautioned that lawmakers should "come together" and "do our job" and not focus on the indictment, while speaking on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday.

MANCHIN BLASTS BIDEN TREASURY DEPARTMENT FOR 'PATHETIC' EV TAX CREDIT MOVE

"We must come together. American people want us to do our job. The more you talk about that, the more you make people pick a side — 'Are they right or wrong?' — you give more credence to basically, 'Is it biased or not? Does the rule of law work for all of us?' Let's wait until what comes out next week. Let's see the direction this goes. But the bottom line, it's a very sad time in America," Manchin said.

Manchin made a plea for centrism in politics, saying he is "going to do whatever I can to have a voice in that middle."

"You can't solve them from the extreme right and the extreme left. You can't make people, make a — pick a side. 'Which side are you on?' 'Well, I'll choose the left or the right, or the D or the R because this one's not as bad as that one.' Neither of them are doing the job the way we should do it, but one's not as bad as the other, so you pick a side. I think we can do better than that, and if we can change that dialogue and have a movement," Manchin added.

When further pressed about whether he will run for reelection to his Senate seat or run for president in 2024, he said he would make his decision "a little bit before" his filing deadline of Jan. 15, 2024.

If Manchin does elect to run for reelection in his Senate seat, he will face one of the toughest reelection races in the cycle. West Virginia voted for Trump by nearly 40% points, with the seat turning more Republican in the time since Manchin first won his Senate seat.

Trump legal team considering request to move Manhattan trial to Staten Island: Report

Cami Mondeaux

April 01, 02:00 PM April 01, 02:00 PM

The legal team for Donald Trump is reportedly considering a request to move his criminal trial case from Manhattan to a courthouse in Staten Island due to concerns the former president won’t get a fair trial.

Trump’s lawyers have not decided whether to submit a request to move the trial as the legal team is waiting to see what the specific charges in the case are, a source familiar with the situation told Bloomberg News. Trump is expected to appear at a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday for his arraignment, during which his charges will be unsealed for the first time.

DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: FORMER PRESIDENT’S GAME PLAN TO SLOW DOWN CRIMINAL CASE

It’s unlikely that prosecutors will agree to move the trial as defendants are not entitled to pick juries that may lean more favorably toward them, according to legal experts.

“The only reason he would try to move venues to Staten Island is that he thinks — based on voter registration — that that’s a friendlier potential jury pool for him,” Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor, told the outlet. “That’s not going to fly.”

The expected surrender comes after a grand jury in Manhattan voted on Thursday to indict the former president on charges related to a hush-money case that emerged during Trump’s first White House bid in 2016. The indictment marks the first time a former president has been criminally charged.

Trump was initially asked to surrender on Friday, but his lawyers told New York officials that the former president's security detail would need more time to prepare, according to the .

Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing and has accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of leading a politically motivated prosecution against him. He has also denied any affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, who had been looking to make her story known during Trump's 2016 campaign.

The hush money case centers on testimony from Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to paying two women who accused Trump of sexual affairs to be silent, including Daniels. As part of the scheme, Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 and was later reimbursed by the Trump Organization.

Manhattan prosecutors later opened an investigation into whether Trump falsified business records to list the reimbursement as a legal expense. Such a crime is a misdemeanor in New York but could be increased to a felony if Bragg's office argues the fraud was intended to conceal a second crime.

At the time of Cohen’s trial, federal prosecutors did not press charges against Trump due to guidance from the Justice Department that a sitting president cannot be charged with a crime. However, prosecutors revived discussions about possible charges shortly before Trump left office in 2021.

Kellyanne Conway says delay in Trump indictment decision shows charges are 'weak'

Jack Birle

March 26, 05:36 PM March 26, 05:36 PM

Kellyanne Conway says the reason former President Donald Trump has yet to be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury is because prosecutors know the case is "weak."

Conway, who served as an advisor to Trump during his presidency, says the charges being considered by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg are only in consideration so he can say he was "first" to indict Trump.

FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY SAYS TRUMP PROBE NOT UNPRECEDENTED

“I think it’s enough for them to wave the flag and say, ‘we were the first,’ because the left cares about optics and being the first, ‘we’re the first to preside over the indictment of a sitting former president,'” Conway said while speaking on Fox Business Network's WSJ at Large.

“But I think the brush back and the delay here is because they know it’s weak and they tried to build a case based on the testimony of Michael Cohen and to a lesser extent Stormy Daniels," Conway added.

Conway, who said she has discussed the potential indictment with Trump and testified before the Manhattan grand jury, also said that she sees the case only helping Trump's electoral chances.

“If you take the long view, it’d be hard to see how this doesn’t benefit President Trump because it plays right into what he has always said, which is ‘they’re out to get me,’ which means they’re out to get you: the voter,” Conway said.

Prosecutors in Manhattan have been investigating to see if Trump had falsified business records by listing a $130,000 reimbursement of his then-lawyer Cohen for paying off Daniels to stay silent as a legal expense in 2016 when he was running for president.

An indictment of Trump by the New York City grand jury could come as soon as this week after it was widely speculated that he would be charged last week.

Andrew Cuomo slams Trump investigations as 'cancer in our body politic'

Emily Jacobs

March 25, 07:14 PM March 25, 07:15 PM

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo accused the New York and Georgia grand jury investigations into former President Donald Trump of being politically motivated and part of a "cancer in our body politic."

Cuomo, a Democrat who resigned in disgrace in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations, made the comments during an appearance this week on WABC 770 talk radio show "The Cats Roundtable." The former governor told host John Catsimatidis that he "doesn't understand" why Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was "putting such an emphasis" on Trump's 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS HIT BACK AT ALVIN BRAGG'S REFUSAL TO TESTIFY IN TRUMP CASE

“You have a cynical public, they don’t believe anyone and when you start to see these prosecutors bring political cases, it just affirms everybody’s cynicism,” Cuomo said.

"I don’t believe a Democratic prosecutor just happens to be attacking a Republican. I don’t believe a Republican prosecutor just happens to be attacking a Democrat. I think it’s all politics, and I think that’s what the people of this country are saying,” he continued. "And I think it’s feeds the cynicism, and that’s the cancer in our body politic right now."

Getting sarcastic, Cuomo added, "It’s a coincidence that Bragg goes after Trump and Tish James goes after Trump and Georgia goes after Trump. That’s all a coincidence."

Bragg, a progressive Democrat who has refused to prosecute a number of offenses since taking office last January, is reportedly mulling charges against the former president over the hush money matter. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform last weekend that the Manhattan DA's Office would arrest him on Tuesday on charges related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The statement followed a growing number of reports about Bragg's plans to indict him on charges related to the Stormy Daniels matter.

Tuesday came and went, however, without an indictment. It is not clear if threats to the DA's office delayed such moves.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, testified before Congress in 2019 that he paid Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to prevent her from going public about an affair she claimed to have with Trump in 2005. Cohen, who pleaded guilty and served time over the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments.

It is unclear what charges Bragg's office is mulling against Trump. Prosecutors in the Cohen case alleged that the Trump Organization "falsely accounted" for the monthly payments as legal expenses. Falsifying business records in New York technically amounts to a misdemeanor. To elevate it to a low-level felony, prosecutors in the Trump case must show that the conduct was committed in connection with another crime and the former president's "intent to defraud."

Cuomo told the talk radio program this week that he expected Trump to be indicted, saying, "You can indict a ham sandwich … I’m sure they’ll get an indictment."

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?”