PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump ranted against his unprecedented arrest and arraignment Tuesday night, telling supporters at Mar-a-Lago that the real “criminal” is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it,” the 76-year-old said hours after pleading not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election to two women alleging extramarital affairs with him.
“The criminal is the district attorney because he illegally leaked massive amounts of grand jury information, for which he should be prosecuted — or at a minimum, he should resign,” Trump added, referring details of his indictment beihg reported ahead of his initial hearing.
Former President Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump ranted against his unprecedented arrest and arraignment telling supporters at Mar-a-Lago: “We have to save our country.”
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“[Bragg] campaigned on the fact that he would ‘get’ President Trump — ‘I’m gonna get him, I’m gonna get him’ — this is a guy campaigning… this, before he knew anything about me,” the 45th president told hundreds of fans gathered in his Palm Beach club’s ballroom.
The current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination also slammed the “Trump-hating judge” presiding over his case, Juan Manuel Merchan, and prosecutors leading other inquiries into his conduct — but focused his ire on Bragg in his 25-minute speech.
“Alvin Bragg’s wife confirmed a report that claimed her husband ‘has Trump nailed on felonies.’ She has since locked down her Twitter account,” Trump said.
Former President Donald Trump
Trump claims, “The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”
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“Meanwhile, overall crime in New York was up 30% last year, much more than that the year before, with felony assaults, robberies and burglaries all up by massive, massive numbers.”
Bashing the judge who controls his fate, the former president said: “I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden Harris campaign — and a lot of it.”
