Donald Trump calls Alvin Bragg, the district attorney who may soon indict him, an “animal”: In a racially-tinged tirade on Truth Social, the former president also highlighted Bragg’s links to billionaire and conservative boogeyman George Soros.
Donald Trump and His Latest Rant
Donald Trump predicted last week that he would be indicted this week, although, with the delay of a pair of grand jury proceedings, it’s likely that any criminal charges for the ex-president will arrive next week at the earliest.
But in the meantime, Trump has been teeing off against the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in increasingly personal and cruel terms, going so far as to denounce Bragg as a “Soros-backed animal.”
“WHY WON’T BRAGG DROP THIS CASE? EVERYBODY SAYS THERE IS NO CRIME HERE. I DID NOTHING WRONG! IT WAS ALL MADE UP BY A CONVICTED NUT JOB WITH ZERO CREDIBILITY, WHO HAS BEEN DISPUTED BY HIGHLY RESPECTED PROFESSIONALS AT EVERY TURN,” Trump said in an all-caps Truth Social post Thursday. “BRAGG REFUSES TO STOP DESPITE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. HE IS A SOROS BACKED ANIMAL WHO JUST DOESN’T CARE ABOUT RIGHT OR WRONG NO MATTER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HURT. THIS IS NO LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO, THIS IS RUSSIA AND CHINA, BUT WORSE. DISGRACEFUL!”
Trump Goes Racist
For calling the African-American Bragg an “animal,” a term with significant racial undertones, Trump was widely condemned.
Historian Kevin Kruse called that, along with the shot at Soros, a “nice racist two-for.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, criticized the “animal” language as “racist and gross,” adding that “it might appeal to white supremacists, but it should be rejected by all decent Americans.”
Greenblatt also took exception to Trump’s statement that the potential prosecution was “Gestapo…but worse.”
He Just Won’t Stop
Trump was at it again early Friday morning, promising “potential death & destruction.”
“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 said on his social network. “Why & who would do such a thing? Only a degenerate psychopath that truely hates the USA!”
The previous day, Trump had posted something similar, accusing the district attorney’s office of seeking to “create years of hatred, chaos, and turmoil.”
GOP Goes to War on Bragg
Bragg has not responded directly to Trump’s comments, but his general counsel did reply Thursday to efforts by Republicans in Congress to investigate his investigation.
Congress has no oversight over a local prosecutor who is not part of the federal court system. But that didn’t stop three top House Republicans, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY), and Bryan Steil (R-WI) from writing a letter earlier this week demanding both an interview with Bragg as well as a massive trove of documents.
Leslie B. Dubeck, the general counsel to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, wrote to the three Republicans Thursday.
Dubeck called it “an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution. The Letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Either fact is a legitimate basis for a congressional inquiry.”
She added that “the District Attorney is obliged by the federal and state constitutions to protect the independence of state law enforcement functions from federal interference,” adding that the office was willing to meet with committee staff for a “better understanding” to discuss “what information the DA’s Office can provide that relates to a legitimate legislative interest and can be shared consistent with the District Attorney’s constitutional obligations.”
The letter went on to allege that complying with the committee’s demands would interfere with law enforcement, and also violate New York’s sovereignty.
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Expertise and Experience:
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
