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Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg sent a six-page letter Friday warning House Reps of “unlawful political interference” regarding Trump’s indictment.
On Thursday, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump on reportedly 34 counts involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. The exact nature of the charges was unclear Friday because the indictment remained sealed.
As Manhattan’s top prosecutor, DA Alvin Bragg has been the subject of backlash and violence thanks to rhetoric from Trump and other Republicans after Trump revealed, incorrectly, that he would be arrested last week.
Alvin Bragg not backing down
Last week, Bragg was mailed an envelope containing a “suspicious white powder” and a note reading “Alvin — I’ll kill you”.
House Reps and Trump loyalists Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.), and James Comer (R-Tenn.) asserted the investigation into Trump was baseless and demanded to see evidence, to which Bragg responded with a five-page letter saying he will not be pressured by any “federal interference.” He claimed their request was “an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution.”
On Friday, after Trump’s indictment became public, Bragg sent another letter to House Reps Jordan, Steil, and Comer defending his office’s decision to indict the former President.
“The charges filed yesterday were brought by citizens of New York, doing their civic duty as members of a grand jury, who found probable cause to accuse Mr. Trump of having committed crimes in New York,” the letter read.
Trump continued his thinly-veiled violent rhetoric on Truth Social after the indictment was public claiming “these thugs and radical left monsters have just indicated (sp) the 45th President of the U.S.”
“Like any other defendant, Mr. Trump is entitled to challenge these charges in court and avail himself of all processes and protections that New York State’s robust criminal procedure affords. What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may not do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State,” Bragg’s letter reads.
Officials have indicated they are working with Trump’s lawyers to negotiate his surrender, which is tentatively planned for April 4 where Trump is expected to be fingerprinted with a mugshot in a Manhattan courthouse.