Pelosi, Dems calls Trump’s arrest warning ‘reckless’ and accuses him of ‘fomenting riots’
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Saturday slammed former President Donald Trump’s statement that he expects to be arrested next week as “reckless” and accused him of inciting 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,” tweeted Pelosi, the former House Speaker. “He cannot hide from his breaking the law, disregarding our elections and calls for violence. Rightly so, our legal system will decide how to hold him accountable.”
Pelosi’s tweets came after Trump announced he expected his arrest on Tuesday, amid reports that Manhattan prosecutors are preparing an indictment over alleged hush money payments Trump made as a presidential candidate in 2016.
TRUMP RECEIVED “NO NOTIFICATION” EXCEPT “ILLEGAL LEAKS” ABOUT POSSIBLE ARREST NEXT WEEK, SPOKESMAN SAYS
“NOW, ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY OFFICE WHICH HAS ALLOWED TO SET NEW RECORDS IN VIOLENT CRIME AND Whose LEADER IS FINANCED BY GEORGE SOROS, SHOW THAT NO CRIME CAN BE PROVED AND BASED ON THIS AN OLD (& FULL) BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) MÄRCHEN, THE FAR & WAY LEADING REPUBLIC CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE ARRESTED TUESDAY NEXT WEEK. [sic]Trump posed to his Truth Social account.
In her tweets, Pelosi hinted at the possibility of impeachment against Trump.
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“Whatever the grand jury decides,” Pelosi wrote, “its deliberation makes it clear that no one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States.”
Pelosi wasn’t the only Democrat to comment on Trump’s statement on Saturday. In fact, her successor as top House Democrat, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., appeared to refer to Trump in a tweet that berated “right-wing extremists” for “seditious” rhetoric.
“We live in a democracy,” Jeffries wrote. “Right-wing extremists who foment political violence with inflammatory rhetoric are unfit for service. American values instead of autocracy.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., took aim at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for saying he directs House committees to investigate whether federal funds for “political motivated prosecutions,” amid reports that Trump could be indicted as early as next week.
“Here we are again: Kevin McCarthy once again plays the role of criminal defense attorney to shield Trump from accountability,” Schiff tweeted. “Regardless of the consequences for the country, he stirs the pot and demands an investigation by the investigators. It’s all part of Trump’s playbook.”
Rep. Eric Swalwell, R-Calif., similarly accused McCarthy of “using his powers in government to stop an independent prosecution of his boss.”
Rep. Ted Lieu similarly slammed McCarthy, claiming he was “bending the knee” to Trump.
“Dear [McCarthy]: Do you even know what the charge is?” Lieu wrote. “Have you seen any grand jury evidence? No. You are a cowardly, partisan politician who does not respect the rule of law. In America, no one is above the law, including the person you bend your knee to.”
Lieu also tweeted that no one is above the law, including former presidents, but noted that Trump has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt to a judge or jury.”
TRUMP TARGETED: A LOOK AT PROBES INVOLVING THE FORMER PRESIDENT; FROM STORMY DANIELS TO MAR-A-LAGO VIA RUSSIA
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office will reportedly be meeting with law enforcement officials next week to discuss the logistics of a possible indictment stemming from a year-long investigation into Trump’s alleged hush money scandal involving porn star Stormy Daniels.
In the closing weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen sent Daniels $130,000 to prevent her from disclosing her alleged 2006 affair with Trump, who has denied the affair. Trump then compensated Cohen.
Charges that prosecutors could bring against Trump are likely to relate to the misrecognition of the reimbursements in his company’s internal records as “legal expenses.”
It was also widely speculated that Trump could be charged with violating campaign finance laws by arranging the payments to buy Daniel’s silence weeks before the 2016 election. However, some experts have questioned the legal rationale behind such charges.
Trump spokesman Steven Cheung described the ongoing investigation by the Manhattan Attorney’s Office as a “witch hunt”, called the former president “completely innocent” and accused District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being in the pocket of President Biden and “radical Democrats”.
