U.S. House GOP leader slams Trump for possible arrest by Manhattan D.A
Former President Donald Trump's claim that he would be arrested on Tuesday had not materialized on the East Coast by early evening, but House Republicans slammed any such move as an abuse of prosecutors.
Trump predicted in an all-caps post on his social media page Tru Social Saturday that he would be arrested on Tuesday on charges he argued were fabricated by a politically motivated Manhattan prosecutor. He used the specter of the indictment to mobilize his supporters and call for protests.
“The far-flung Republican candidate and former president of the United States will be arrested next Tuesday,” he wrote, referring to himself in the third person. "Protest, take back our country!"
But by the end of business on the East Coast, Trump was not arrested and widespread protests did not erupt, although a small group of Trump supporters gathered at the Louisiana State Capitol.
The grounds surrounding the U.S. Capitol, the site of the Jan. 6 insurrection that Trump encouraged, were quiet late Tuesday afternoon. A bicyclist rode across the East Front plaza, children played nearby and a dog was having a photo shoot.
A New York grand jury is reportedly investigating payments made to porn actor Stormy Daniels on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 presidential race to keep her from disclosing their alleged affair. Trump has denied a sexual relationship with Daniels.
U.S. House Republicans followed Trump’s lead in criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for what they said was an unfair prosecution of the former president that would undermine confidence in the next presidential election. Trump, who lost reelection in 2020 after one term in office, was the first major candidate to announce he was running for the GOP nomination for president in 2024.
Three leaders of the House committees, Ohio Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Kentucky Oversight Chairman James Comer and Wisconsin Executive Chairman Brian Steele sent Bragg a four-page letter on Monday attacking the Prosecutors also requested relevant documents.
"You will reportedly be subjected to unprecedented mistreatment by prosecutors," the letter read.
Responding to Trump's criticism, House lawmakers accused Bragg of "looking for grounds -- any grounds" to prosecute the former president.
The Prague office said prosecutors would not be intimidated by the congressional letter.
"We will not be intimidated by attempts to disrupt the judicial process or by baseless allegations of a fair application of the law," a spokesperson for the New York County District Attorney's Office said in an email to States Newsroom.
House Republicans are also trying to use the possibility of arrests to raise money and create campaign lists.
"The radical left is trying to use the latest witch hunt to intimidate you," the National Republican Congressional Committee said in an email. "House Republicans will stand up against these fear tactics and threats. But we cannot do it alone. Our country is at an inflection point. We need every patriot to immediately condemn this witch hunt."
The email then urged supporters to click on a link to "denounce the witch hunt". The link leads to a page where users can contribute to the campaign and provide their personal information to the committee.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump's potential rival for next year's Republican presidential nomination, lashed out at Bragg at a news conference on Monday while reminding viewers of Trump's alleged misconduct.
“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said. “But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who … chooses to go back many, many years ago to try and use something about porn star hush money payments, that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office.”
If Trump were indicted, it would be a historic event. No sitting or former president has been criminally indicted.
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