Former Manhattan DA Says Trump Complaints May Escalate Case Against Him

 Former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. shared a word of caution on Sunday in response to former President Donald Trump venting as he faces an unprecedented indictment.

During an appearance on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Vance said the way Trump is chastising Alvin Bragg as well as the judge presiding over the case could make matters worse for the former president.

“I’ve got to say that I was disturbed to hear the former president speak in the way he spoke about the District Attorney Bragg and even the trial court in the past week,” Vance told the show’s moderator, Chuck Todd.

“And I think, if I were his lawyer – and believe me, no one has called up to ask for my advice – I would be mindful of not committing some other criminal offense, like obstruction of governmental administration, which is interfering with, by threat or otherwise, the operation of government,” Vance continued.

“And I think that could take what perhaps we think is not the strongest case, when you add a count like that, put it in front of a jury – it can change the jury’s mind about the severity of the case that they’re looking at,” he said.

Despite the warning, Vance told Todd he does not know if Bragg’s case against Trump is “airtight or not.”

After a grand jury issued an indictment last week, Trump is expected to be arraigned in New York on Tuesday. It marks a significant escalation in the investigation that Vance passed on to Bragg when he left office at the end of 2021. Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges.

Though exact details about the indictment remain unclear, Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC News on Sunday he was certain they “revolve around” the payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle in exchange for her silence regarding an alleged affair that Trump denies.

Trump, who is months into his third campaign for president, claims he is the target of “witch hunt” and denies any wrongdoing. He has accused Bragg of “prosecutorial misconduct,” called him an “animal,” and said the district attorney is backed by leftist billionaire George Soros — an assertion from which Soros has sought to back away.

In addition, Trump has attacked the presiding judge, acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, posting to Truth Social that the judge “hates” him and “strong armed” the Trump Organization’s former CFO Allen Weisselberg in a tax fraud case.

In his appearance Sunday on ABC News, Tacopina said he does not personally believe the judge is biased, though he acknowledged Trump is “entitled to his own opinion.” The lawyer did however echo Trump in saying his client is the “victim of a political persecution.”

Trump’s re-election campaign announced on Sunday the former president would deliver a public address from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday night.