Prosecutor: Donald Trump created ‘false expectations’ of arrest

The comments came amid growing tension over Trump’s possible indictment and uncertainty over when the grand jury hearing the case will vote to indict him.

The charges against Trump would be a historic step and would greatly inflame the passions of the 2024 election campaign, as the Republican ex-president seeks to return to the White House.

The comment was made in a letter sent by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to three Republican lawmakers.

These Republicans, who lead the House committees, wrote to Bragg on Monday asking him to testify before Congress about their investigation. In the letter, they accused Democrat A. Bragg of “politically motivated harassment.”

On Saturday, Trump said without providing any evidence that he believed he would be arrested on Tuesday and urged supporters to “Protest, take back your country!”

“Your letter … is an unprecedented inquiry into a future local prosecution,” Leslie Dubeck, the lead attorney for Bragg’s prosecution, wrote in a Thursday response seen by AFP.

“The letter comes only after Donald Trump created false expectations that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene.” None [šių] the facts do not provide a legal basis for a congressional investigation,” she added.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform generated a lot of media interest. Democrats have warned that his call for protests could lead to a repeat of the January 6, 2021 violence by Trump supporters at the US Capitol. So far, the protests have been small and isolated.

New York police set up barricades outside Bragg’s prosecutor’s office, Trump Tower, the headquarters of the ex-president’s business empire The Trump Organization, and the Manhattan courthouse where Trump would appear before a judge if indicted.

He could become the first former or current president to be indicted.

Bragg’s grand jury is unlikely to hear the case on Thursday and is not in session on Fridays, so any decision will not be made until next week at the earliest.

A. Bragg is investigating the 130,000 US dollars (122.7 thousand euros) paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

The payment was made weeks before that year’s election, allegedly to keep Daniels from revealing information about an affair with Trump that the woman claims to have had years ago.

D. Trump denies this information and called the investigation a “witch hunt”.

An untested theory

Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who later became his opponent, said he made the payment on behalf of his then-boss, adding that he was later reimbursed for the money.

If the payment wasn’t properly accounted for, experts say, misdemeanor charges related to falsifying business documents could be filed.

The misdemeanor can become a felony if the falsified records were used to cover up a second crime, such as a campaign finance violation, which is punishable by up to four years in prison.

Analysts say this argument is untested and would be difficult to prove in court. Any prison sentence is questionable.

Trump reiterated on Truth Social Thursday that Bragg “has no facts” and again accused him of pursuing a political agenda. “Our country is being destroyed and they are telling us to keep calm!” he wrote.

The former US leader is the subject of several criminal investigations at the state and federal levels for possible wrongdoing. Many are more serious than the Manhattan case and threaten his bid to return to the White House.

Among other things, the former president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia, his irresponsible handling of classified documents and his possible involvement in the aforementioned storming of the Capitol are being investigated.

Observers are divided into two camps regarding the consequences of the indictment – some believe that it undermines D. Trump’s chances in the 2024 elections, while others believe that it can mobilize his supporters.