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During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," former NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton told the hosts that, when Donald Trump is finally arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom after his Thursday indictment, he expects most people who will take to the street won't be there to support the former president.
Speaking with host Joe Scarborough, Bratton made the point that the former New York businessman has more enemies than friends in his former hometown before he decamped to Mar-a-Lago.
Asked about security precautions law enforcement in New York City will take since the indictment was announced late Thursday, Bratton said he thinks plans are well in place.
"What would you be doing to prevent the next January 6th if you were running the NYPD again?" he was asked.
RELATED: There could be much more serious charges headed Trump's way
"The police commissioner [Keechant L. Sewell] is very busy -- her and her department began to see some of that yesterday with the increased security around the courthouse, district attorney's office," Bratton began. "Security has been increased significantly, certainly for the district attorney and others."
"The good news is New York has great experience dealing with every type of experience in terms of whether it be terrorism or large crowds and demonstrations," he continued. "In this event, they will be watching very closely, monitoring social media, intelligence sources. I don't think you're going to see huge crowds turning out for this thing, particularly from the Trump side -- Mr. Trump is not thought of well here in New York or Manhattan. I think you'll have larger crowds that will be demonstrating against him rather than in support of him."
"In any event, the police department will be prepared to deal with it," he added.
Watch the video below or at this link.
MSNBC 03 31 2023 06 48 24 youtu.be
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Although former President Donald Trump was indicted in New York Thursday, the 2024 hopeful should brace for his "much more serious charges" in Georgia, according to journalist Charles P. Pierce.
In an Esquire op-ed, Pierce references an article published Thursday by the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), which the author of four books considers "extremely premature brow-furrowing," suggesting "if the former president* is acquitted in New York," Fulton County District Attorney Fani "Willis might not have the political stones to bring her case."
According to Pierce, the AJC reports:
For months, it looked like Atlanta would move first to bring criminal charges against Donald Trump. But Fulton County prosecutors lost their spot in the history books when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg apparently secured felony indictments on unknown charges.
READ MORE: New details on Fani Willis' potential indictment of Donald Trump revealed: report
In response to the AJC's reporting, the longtime journalist insists, "That seems to me to run counter to what we've seen from Willis so far." He writes, "She hasn't taken one step backwards—Ni shagu nazad!—in her work so far. She didn't hesitate to haul political celebrities in front of he special grand jury. She's already faced some serious heat for her work."
Pierce writes:
Even if the former president* were to win in New York, so what? Willis' charges are far more serious than Bragg's are. In Atlanta, the former president* may be indicted for crimes against the republic, for offenses against the idea of popular democracy.
Former DeKalb district attorney, J. Tom Morgan, told the AJC, "The Georgia charges are far more serious and, personally, I think easier to prove."
He continued, "Bragg has to jump through hoops to make what Trump did in New York a felony. Should Trump be indicted in Georgia, the acts speak for themselves."
READ MORE: 'RICO': Georgia prosecutors considering racketeering and conspiracy charges against Trump
Charles P. Pierce's full op-ed is available at this link. The Atlanta Journal Constitution's full report is here.
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How indicted Donald Trump must now face 'the rule of law' — not the 'rules of politics'
March 31, 2023
On Thursday, March 30, 2023, Donald Trump became the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted by a grand jury. The exact charges that Trump will face have not been revealed by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr., the prosecutor in the case. Bragg has been investigating hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney who alleges that he made the payments on the ex-president's behalf.
But whatever the charges turn out to be, pro-Trump Republicans — from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to pundits at Fox News — have been railing against Bragg relentlessly. As they see it, the indictment is an act of political persecution — a claim that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California), defending Bragg on MSNBC, has denounced as utter nonsense.
University of Baltimore law professor Kimberly Wehle, a former federal prosecutor, weighs in on the indictment in an article published by The Bulwark on March 30. And she emphasizes that this indictment is a whole new experience for Trump, who must now contend with "the rule of law" rather than "the rules of politics."
READ MORE: Donald Trump indicted in New York
Wehle explains, "Politicians can lie to voters with impunity as long as the voters allow it…. But…. the rules of courts are stricter than the rules of politics. Trump allegedly engaged in a ‘catch-and-kill’ scheme orchestrated by then-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker to hide his relationship with adult film star Stormy Daniels and thereby avoid bad press in the month before the 2016 election. Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court to eight criminal counts, including tax evasion and campaign finance violations arising from his payments of $280,000 to prevent Daniels and one other woman from telling their stories. Cohen was allegedly repaid by Trump in $35,000 installments under monthly legal 'retainer' agreements that had nothing whatsoever to do with the provision of legal services."
The law professor adds, "One anticipated theory of Bragg's case against Trump is that he falsified related business records in the first degree in violation of New York Penal Code Section 175.10, which is a felony 'when (a defendant's) intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.'"
Trump, Wehle argues, "won’t be able to lie his way out of legal trouble the way he has lied his way out of political trouble so many times."
"It's hard to imagine Trump will fall prey to the problems of poverty, structural racism, and inadequate counsel that many Americans face," Wehle writes. "Any conviction will be subject to appeals, too, which, given Trump's prior position, could well include the Supreme Court — an impossibility for the rest of us. Trump is on trial, but the rule of law is also being tested. The most important outcome is that the rule of law wins."
READ MORE: Why Trump should brace for 'much more serious charges' in Georgia probe: journalist
Read Kimberly Wehle’s full article for The Bulwark at this link.
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