• News & Politics
  • Culture
  • Food
  • Science & Health
  • Money
  • Life Stories
  • Video
  • Reviews
    • Lifestyle
      • The New Sober Boom
      • Getting Hooked on Quitting
    • Education
      • Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous
      • Is College Necessary?
    • Finance
      • Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear
      • Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset
    • Crypto
      • Investing
        • SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters
        • 'Dark' Personalities Drawn to BTC
Profile Log In/Sign Up Saved Articles Go Ad-Free Logout
subscribe
Help keep Salon independent
Newsletter
Profile Login/Sign Up
Saved Articles Go Ad-Free Logout
  • News & Politics
  • Culture
  • Food
salon logo
  • Science & Health
  • Money
  • Video

"He could be jailed": Legal experts say Trump's DA threats could result in "additional charges"

"Attempting to intimidate prosecutors or inciting violence" could badly backfire on the former president

By Areeba Shah

Staff Writer

Published March 27, 2023 3:06PM (EDT)

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he lands at Quad City International Airport in route to Iowa on Monday, March 13, 2023, in Moline, IL. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he lands at Quad City International Airport in route to Iowa on Monday, March 13, 2023, in Moline, IL. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
--

Shares

Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Email

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is the 2016 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, received a death threat letter with suspicious powder soon after former President Donald Trump warned there would "death and destruction" if he is indicted.

"ALVIN: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the letter addressed to Braggs reportedly included. 

The powder was determined non-hazardous, but several threats against the DA's office have ramped up in recent weeks as Bragg nears the end of his investigation of Trump, a senior New York law enforcement official told WNBC.

Related

"He's threatening prosecutors": Trump floats "death & destruction" in 1 am Truth Social rant

The former president's attacks on social media against officials could land him in some serious trouble legal experts warned.

"Attempting to intimidate prosecutors or inciting violence might get the former president hit with additional charges," Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, told Salon. "Even if not, he's setting himself up as the villain in this political melodrama. Each time he does this it erodes support among non-core Trump supporters."

Trump has called Bragg a "Soros backed animal" and has encouraged his supporters to "protest" his widely anticipated arrest. In another post, he referred to the Manhattan DA's office as "corrupt & highly political" before wrongly predicting his arrest for last Tuesday. 

"I think that the judge can enter a gag order to restrict his comments about the case to prohibit threats," former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade told Salon. "If he violates the order, he could be jailed for contempt."

In a post that has since been deleted, Trump shared an article with a picture of him holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Bragg.

Related

"Threatening a prosecutor is a crime": Experts say Trump's Truth Social post could badly backfire

His attorney Joe Tacopina has called his attacks "ill-advised" and distanced himself from his client's online presence saying he's not his "social media consultant," on NBC's "Meet the Press".

"I'm not going to defend or condemn anything regarding social media," Tacopina told NBC's Chuck Todd on Sunday. "That's not what I do. I'm not a Trump PR person. I'm a litigator and a lawyer."

As Trump's attacks on Truth Social worsen, some legal experts have compared his violent rhetoric around his potential indictment to his rhetoric ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

"All it takes is a SMALL spark for civil unrest to flame up," Rottinghaus said. "Trump has kept these organizations closely associated with his political ambitions. By giving voice and a focus to people in these organizations, the potential for violence is quick to follow."

In the first rally of his 2024 presidential campaign in Waco, Texas Saturday, Trump defended the insurrectionists and railed against prosecutors.

"You will be vindicated and proud," Trump said. "The thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited and totally disgraced."

His language echoed the same rhetoric he used prior to the attack on the Capitol when a mob of his supporters attempted to stop the transfer of power to President Joe Biden.


Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.


However, his recent remarks on social media and during his rally, are protected by the First Amendment, noted Catherine Ross, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University who specializes in First Amendment issues.

"The problem with labeling it incitement from a First Amendment perspective is that one of the traditional requirements is the call to take an illegal action needs to be urging the listeners to do something imminently," Ross said.

Under the Brandenburg standard, the imminence provision could "well be" a barrier to Trump facing criminal prosecution for incitement, she added. But once he is indicted and arrested, a trial judge can decide if Trump is a threat to public safety and whether it is safe to release him during his arraignment.

"We all have to be on alert for what is going on here and I know it's hard to keep our sense of shock intact because we have been so bombarded by Trump's lack of normality and violation of norms," Ross said. "And I sense that he's impervious, but this is a very dangerous situation."

A group of more than 175 former federal prosecutors, including top civil rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton, former New York Gov. David Paterson, NAACP NYS President Hazel Dukes and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., also released an open letter Friday condemning Trump's incendiary attacks on Bragg.

"This disgraceful attack is not a dog-whistle but a bullhorn of incendiary racist and anti-semitic bile, spewed out for the sole purpose of intimidating and sabotaging a lawful, legitimate, fact-based investigation," they said. "These ugly, hateful and anti-American attacks on our judicial system must be universally condemned without equivocation or hesitation. It is clear that Trump would burn down the greatest values of our democracy, and destroy honest, ethical officials performing their constitutional duties, to escape accountability.

The letter added that his "vitriolic attacks" on the DA and most recent statements can be "construed as inciting violence".

However, the former president's attacks on prosecutors won't deter them from doing their job, Rottinghaus pointed out. 

"[It] certainly ratchets up the political tension about indicting a former president," Rottinghaus said. "All prosecutions are political but this one has national ramifications."

Read more

about the Manhattan DA probe

  • "Incitement of violence": Trump trashes GOP calls for MAGA mob to remain "peaceful" on Truth Social
  • "Dear lord stop talking": Legal experts warn Trump lawyer's TV interviews "not helping his client"
  • "She remains angry": Melania reportedly not sweating Trump's possible arrest in Stormy Daniels case

By Areeba Shah

Areeba Shah is a staff writer at Salon covering news and politics. Previously, she was a research associate at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and a reporting fellow for the Pulitzer Center, where she covered how COVID-19 impacted migrant farmworkers in the Midwest.

MORE FROM Areeba Shah


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Alvin Bragg Donald Trump Furthering Michael Cohen Politics Stormy Daniels

Related Articles


Advertisement:
  • Home
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Service
  • Archive
  • Go Ad Free

Copyright © 2025 Salon.com, LLC. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


DMCA Policy