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Death and destruction if I’m charged – Trump

Former president warns of violence if he is indicted over alleged hush-money payments to adult film star

By Josie Ensor in New York

Donald Trump has warned of “potential death and destruction” if he is charged by prosecutors in a hushmoney case involving Stormy Daniels, the adult film star, in the lead-up to the 2016 election. His online outburst was the former president’s most explicit allusion yet to what could follow an indictment stemming from an investigation led by Alvin Bragg, a Manhattan district attorney. The 76-year-old will hold the first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign today.

DONALD TRUMP warned of “potential death and destruction” if he is charged by prosecutors in a hush-money case.

His post on Truth Social shortly after midnight yesterday was the former president’s most explicit allusion yet to what could follow an indictment stemming from an investigation led by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, whom Mr Trump called a “degenerate psychopath”.

Mr Trump posted a picture of him holding a baseball bat next to Mr Bragg’s head, calling him “human scum”.

The 76-year-old, who is due to hold the first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign today in Texas, suggested in a separate post that there could be “years of hatred, chaos and turmoil” if he is arrested as part of an investigation into alleged payments made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

A grand jury in New York will reconvene next week, when it is expected to make a decision. Steel barriers have been set up outside the Manhattan Criminal Court and Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue as the city remained on high alert.

The messages have echoes of the days leading up to the Jan 6 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a violent protrump mob. Mr Trump last Saturday called for supporters to protest. However, few have so far heeded his call.

Distrustful that demonstrations might be “traps” set by officials, and without a fixed date or event to rally around, the vast majority of followers seemed to be wavering online.

Democrat Mr Bragg, the first black district attorney for Manhattan, previously emailed his employees to state that authorities will not “tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York”.

On Thursday, Mr Bragg urged Republicans rallying behind Mr Trump to let his office carry out its work.

Three top GOP members had requested Mr Bragg provide them with communications, documents and testimony about his inquiry, which is expected to result in criminal charges against Mr Trump. Mr Bragg called the move an “unprecedented” intrusion into New York’s sovereignty.

In a further social media post, the former president accused Mr Bragg of being a “Soros-backed animal”, an often cited line of attack from Republicans about the Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros, which critics argue is an anti-semitic dog whistle.

A group of civil rights leaders, including the Rev Al Sharpton and former New York governor David Paterson, condemned Mr Trump’s statements.

“This disgraceful attack is not a dog whistle but a bullhorn of incendiary racist and anti-semitic bile, spewed out for the sole purpose of intimidating and sabotaging a lawful, legitimate, factbased investigation,” they said.

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https://dailytelegraph.pressreader.com/article/281509345435942

Daily Telegraph