Trump lashes out on eve of arraignment, calls for Bragg to ‘indict himself’ over ‘illegal’ leaks

by Julia Mueller - 04/04/23 7:52 AM ET

On the eve of his arraignment before a New York Supreme Court Judge, former President Trump lashed out online, asserting his innocence and calling for the Manhattan prosecutor leading the case to be indicted over “illegal” leaks.

Trump accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) of having leaked “the various points, and complete information, on the pathetic indictment against me,” claiming that the still-sealed indictment includes 33 counts against him.

“I know the reporter and so, unfortunately, does he. This means that he MUST BE IMMEDIATELY INDICTED. Now, if he wants to really clean up his reputation, he will do the honorable thing and, as District Attorney, INDICT HIMSELF,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“D.A. BRAGG JUST ILLEGALLY LEAKED THE 33 points of Indictment. There are no changes or surprises from those he leaked days ago directly out of the Grand Jury. No Crime by Trump. What a MESS. Bragg should resign, NOW!” he added in another post.

Reports have indicated Trump could face charges on around 30 counts in the case, related to his alleged role in hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to quell her allegations of an affair, which Trump denies, amid his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump arrived in New York Monday evening and is set to surrender to prosecutors Tuesday morning before his arraignment, which is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. He’ll learn the charges against him when he appears in court, barring any move from the judge to unseal the indictment ahead of time.

More from The Hill: Coverage and commentary from the Trump indictment:

It’s the first time a U.S. president — sitting or former — has faced criminal charges and comes as Trump runs for another term in the White House in 2024.

The former president also accused Jack Smith — the special prosecutor appointed by the Justice Department to oversee two criminal investigations into Trump — of having “leaked massive amounts of information to The Washington ComPost” and suggested Smith, too, be prosecuted.

Smith is overseeing a probe of Trump’s classified document handling after a trove of materials marked classified were found last summer at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, and a Washington Post report on Monday suggested the DOJ had more evidence of possible obstruction.

But Trump pointed at President Biden: “Biden is guilty of Obstruction, I am not!” he said.