Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is standing firm in the face of increasingly hostile rhetoric from Donald Trump, telling his staff that the office will not be intimidated or deterred as a decision on the indictment against the man nears. former president.
Bragg sent an internal memo late on Saturday, hours after Trump released a three-part social media post, in all caps, saying he could be arrested in the coming days, criticizing the district attorney and he encouraged his followers to protest and “TAKE BACK OUR NATION!”
Bragg, whose office has been calling witnesses to a grand jury investigating hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 campaign, did not mention the Republican by name but made it clear that was who he was writing about. The note came as New York law enforcement makes security preparations for the possibility of Trump being charged and appearing in court in Manhattan.
“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” Bragg wrote, referring to “press attention and public comment” on an ongoing investigation of his office.
As Bragg tried to assuage concerns about possible threats, messages about protests began to appear on the Internet, including a rally Monday against Bragg organized by the Young Republican Club of New York.
New York law enforcement is also closely monitoring Internet chatter warning of protests and violence if Trump is arrested, four law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The threats that law enforcement officers are tracking vary in specificity and credibility, officials said. Mainly posted online and in chat groups, the messages have included calls for armed protesters to block law enforcement officers and try to stop any possible arrests, officials said.
Law enforcement officials are also discussing a multitude of security plans for lower Manhattan in case Trump is impeached. Those plans – which officials described as preliminary – include the possibility of closing several streets around the Manhattan criminal courthouse and blocking the streets with large trucks, similar to the security protocols in place for large events and parades in New York.
The officials were unable to publicly discuss details of the security plans and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Bragg, a Democrat, inherited the year-long investigation from Trump when he took office in January 2022 and quickly faced criticism, not from Trump, but from the remaining prosecutors for backtracking on his predecessor’s plans to indict Trump. former president of business-related fraud.
Bragg rebounded with convictions for Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and his former finance chief for an unrelated tax fraud scheme before pivoting to what he has called the “next chapter” of the investigation – bringing a new scrutiny into hush money payments, which have been the subject of repeated federal and state investigations over the past six years.
Now, as the investigation nears its conclusion, Bragg is seeking to reassure his 1,600 employees in the face of growing hostility from Trump and his supporters.
In his Saturday night memo, he wrote that the office is working with court officers and New York City police to ensure they are safe and that “any specific or credible threats against the office” are investigated.
The memo and previous Trump social media posts underscored the contrast in styles between Bragg and Trump, two native New Yorkers, but from different eras, neighborhoods and backgrounds, and with wildly disparate personalities.
An old-school lawyer who prefers to let the work speak for itself, Bragg has refused to comment publicly on the state of the secret money investigation or Trump’s bombastic missives. His office has also declined to comment.
There has been no public announcement of a time frame for a decision on impeaching Trump and at least one additional witness is expected to testify, likely on Monday, further indicating that a vote to impeach has yet to be taken.
In a Sunday post, Trump slammed Bragg, Manhattan’s first black district attorney, as a “reverse racist” and accused him, without evidence, of taking orders from the Justice Department and being a pawn of billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, who supported Bragg’s Campaign through the Color Of Change PAC.
