Leaked information regarding the indictment of Donald Trump is considered grounds for criminal charges, explained one lead official from the former president’s administration.
As a former U.S. congressman and federal prosecutor that served as the final director of national intelligence for Trump, John Ratcliffe issued a response to reports that Trump could be looking down the barrel of over 30 counts in relation to business fraud as part of a still ongoing investigation being carried out by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“The only felony of which we can be certain to come out of this Alvin Bragg prosecution in New York is the felony committed either by DA Bragg himself or someone on the grand jury that he’s using for this perversion of our justice system,” explained Ratcliffe to Maria Bartiromo, the anchor of “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“The accused, Donald Trump, and his lawyers, don’t know what’s in this sealed indictment. But for the past, what? Seventy-two hours, the American public has been discussing supposedly 30 or 34 felony counts,” he went on to add. “Leaking grand jury information is a felony. And so the only people capable of that would be Alvin Bragg’s team or members of the grand jury itself.”
DNI John Ratcliffe says that Alvin Bragg may have committed a felony.
Leaking grand jury information is a felony and so the only people capable of that would be Alvin Bragg’s team or members of the grand jury itself.”
Ready for the boomerang? pic.twitter.com/kshBZVG0rA
— vanhoa (@vanhoa2272) April 2, 2023
Both NBC News and CNN each cited “two sources familiar” with the subject while reporting that Trump is dealing with close to 30 charges in the wake of the revelation on Thursday that he became the first former president in history to face criminal charges.
Despite the fact that the details regarding the indictment are still unclear, Trump’s legal representative, Joe Tacopina, explained to ABC News this past weekend that he was certain they “revolved around” the documentation of payments of hush money over to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle.
Ratcliffe is not the first person to state that these leaks could be criminal in nature. Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz, expressed a similar view during an appearance on OANN, noting that such a massive violation of New York penal law could result in a sentence of over five years behind bars.
There is a crime — illegal grand jury leaks from Bragg’s office! pic.twitter.com/qHw20yK3s9
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 1, 2023
Trump has made the claim that he is just becoming the target of extreme “political persecution” and openly denies any wrongdoing.
Republicans throughout congress have kicked off numerous investigations looking for testimony and documents from Bragg’s team. A Democrat, Bragg issued a response by calling on GOP legislators to back off and “let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference.”
