Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Donald Trump of recklessly trying to stir up anger among his supporters after the former president called for protests in response to his expected arrest in 2016 for alleged silent payments.
The California Democrat warned that Mr. Trump “cannot hide from his breaking the law, flouting our elections and calling for violence.
“The former President’s announcement this morning is inconsiderate: he is doing this to stay in the news and stir up unrest among his supporters,” Ms Pelosi wrote on Twitter.
She also defended the multi-year investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into payments Mr. Trump allegedly made through his attorney Micheal Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Cohen, who pleaded guilty to violating the Campaign Finance Act and lying to Congress, said the payouts were to buy her silence about past relationships with Mr Trump.
Mr Trump has denied the allegations, calling the investigation a “witch hunt”.
“Whatever the grand jury decides, its reasoning makes it clear that no one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States,” Ms. Pelosi said Saturday.
The former president cited leaked information from the Manhattan Attorney’s Office that signaled he would be arrested in the coming days.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr Trump urged his supporters to protest what he says is a politically driven charge.
A spokesman, Mr Bragg, declined to comment.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump said the former president had received no formal notification from prosecutors of an impending arrest “other than illegal leaks from the Justice Department and the Attorney’s Office to NBC and other fake news networks.”
“President Trump is right to assert his innocence and arming our injustice system,” the Washington Times spokesman said.
Republicans quickly rallied behind the former president.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has criticized Mr Trump for his role in the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, spoke out in defense of his former boss after Mr Trump sounded the alarm about his impending arrest.
“Well, how many Americans do I just stunned,” Mr. Pence told SiriusXM’s Breitbart News and host Matt Boyle on Saturday.
“You literally have a Democratic party that has literally dismantled the criminal justice system in this city, that has subverted the NYPD, and the Manhattan DA’s office is saying that’s their top priority?” he said. “It smacks of the kind of political persecution we endured in the days of the Russia hoax and the whole phone call impeachment.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused Mr Bragg of “an outrageous abuse of power” after former President Donald Trump claimed he was being arrested on Tuesday.
The California Republican called on Congress to immediately investigate possible electoral interference from “politically motivated prosecutions” against Mr Trump.
“Here we are again – an outrageous abuse of power by a radical prosecutor who is letting violent criminals free while pursuing political revenge on President Trump,” McCarthy wrote in a Twitter post Saturday. “I direct the relevant committees to immediately investigate whether federal funds are being used to undermine our democracy by interfering with elections with politically motivated law enforcement.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, who led the first impeachment trial against Mr Trump, accused Mr McCarthy of trying to shield the former president from accountability.
“Kevin McCarthy once again plays the role of criminal defense attorney to shield Trump from responsibility,” the California Democrat wrote on Twitter. “Without considering the consequences for the country, he stirs the pot and demands an investigation by the investigators.”
“It’s all part of Trump’s playbook,” he wrote.
Source : www.washingtontimes.com