(RepublicanNews.org) – Last week, former President Donald Trump went loud and public with the news that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg may seek to have him arrested this week, and that public bluster appears to have changed the game board.
Sources told Fox News that the Manhattan DA’s office, along with other law enforcement groups, are nervous about the political fallout that could happen if images of Donald Trump being put in handcuffs emerge from a physical arrest were to become public. These sources say there is a “tremendous amount of danger” and “hysteria” around the notion of Trump being arrested.
Arraigning him virtually, they say, may avoid the worst of this.
The Manhattan DA has been trying to bring the force of the legal system against Trump for years. His latest approach is to accuse Trump of violating campaign finance laws. In 2016, Trump paid $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels, whom he calls an extortionist and liar, allegedly to buy her silence about an extramarital affair between the two.
So-called “hush money” is not illegal on its own. But DA Bragg believes he has a novel way to make it so. He argues that the payments, even though they came from Trump’s own personal money, amount to campaign finance violations. Bragg is expected to argue that since the non-disclosure agreement between Trump and Daniels benefitted Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016, this amounts to an illegal or improper campaign donation.
Bragg may have a difficult time winning with this approach. Top legal scholars and commentators have described his theory as torture and dubious.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have appealed to Trump supporters to remain calm. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said “I don’t think people should protest this stuff.” Such admonishments appear unlikely to change the sentiments of a voter base that believes the highest levels of government are persecuting Trump personally and are willing to bend or break the law to do it.
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