Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to attendees during the National Action Network National Convention in New York, April 7, 2022.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sought to reassure his staff in an internal memo Saturday that intimidation or threats against them will not be tolerated. The announcement comes as his office moves forward with an investigation into former President Donald Trump, who said he believed he would be arrested on Tuesday and urged his supporters to protest.
“Please know that your safety is our highest priority,” Bragg said in a memo to office staff obtained by NBC News from a senior official at the Manhattan DA’s office.
He added: “We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York.”
The letter, first reported by Politico, did not mention Trump by name and referred only to “this office’s ongoing investigation.”
Trump is being investigated by Bragg’s office in connection with a classified payment made to adult video performer Stormy Daniels during his first presidential campaign.
In a post on his social media site Truth Social Saturday, Trump referenced reports that he could face possible criminal charges and said he believed he would be arrested on Tuesday.
Trump, who is running for president again, called on his followers to protest. “WE MUST SAVE AMERICA! PROTEST PROTEST PROTEST!!!” he said on Truth Social.
A Trump spokesman later said there had been no announcement other than “illegal leaks” from the Justice Department and “DA’s office.”
Bragg’s email did not elaborate on potential threats to the agency, but said law enforcement partners “will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the agency are fully investigated and that appropriate safeguards are put in place.”
His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Saturday.
NBC News reported Friday that law enforcement agencies are preparing to potentially indict Trump as early as next week.
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is a key witness in the case and testified before a grand jury this week. Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in 2018 to federal charges related to making the payment to Daniels. He was sentenced to three years in federal prison for this and other crimes.
Cohen claims the payment was made at Trump’s direction and that it was for the “primary purpose of influencing” the 2016 presidential election. Daniels said the two had sex in 2006. The payment was for a non-disclosure agreement, Trump said.
Trump said the payment was legal and that he had repaid Cohen. Trump tweeted in 2018 that the money “did not come from the campaign” and that the deal was “a private contract between two parties known as a nondisclosure agreement or NDA.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation a continuation of a partisan “witch hunt” against him.
