Trump warns of 'potential death and destruction' if he's indicted by court
Former US President Donald Trump has warned that filing court charges against him could result in “potential death & destruction,” escalating his attacks on the Manhattan district attorney's investigation.
Trump claimed on his Truth Social messaging platform on Friday that “NO Crime has been committed,” and warned of “catastrophic” results if being indicted, as he railed against the possibility of an indictment by the attorney.
“What kind of person can charge another person, in this case, a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?” he wrote.
Trump's explicit reference to violence is linked to the Manhattan district attorney's probe into a hush money payment made on his behalf during his 2016 campaign.
Last weekend, Trump said leaks indicated he would be arrested in the investigation and called on his supporters to "PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"
Since then, he has used social media to attack Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, calling for his "removal" from the post and claiming without evidence that the probe is politically motivated.
But the early Friday post on Truth Social marks Trump's most explicit reference to violence yet, echoing his intensified rhetoric during the events that led up to the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
Trump attacked the Manhattan District Attorney, writing, "Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truly [sic] hates the USA!"
In the meantime, Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen has come out as a witness in the case against his ex-client.
Cohen told the court that Trump had hired him to pay money to ex-porn actress Stormy Daniels on his behalf, to conceal an affair between them in 2006, while he was married to his present wife, Melania.
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