House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Saturday said he is directing House committees to investigate whether federal funds are being used for “politically motivated prosecutions” amid reports that former President Donald Trump could be indicted as early as next week.
“Here we go again — an outrageous abuse of power by a radical DA who lets violent criminals walk as he pursues political vengeance against President Trump,” McCarthy tweeted.
McCarthy was reacting to indications that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is preparing to issue an indictment for alleged hush money payments Trump made as a presidential candidate in 2016.
TRUMP SAYS ‘ILLEGAL LEAKS’ INDICATE HE’LL BE ARRESTED TUESDAY
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitols Statuary Hall on Thursday, January 12, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
A court source told Fox News that the office has requested a meeting with law enforcement. The meeting is to “discuss logistics for some time next week, which would mean that they are anticipating an indictment next week,” the source familiar with the planning said.
Trump said on Saturday on Truth Social that he will be “arrested on Tuesday.”
The potential indictment stems from the lengthy investigation surrounding Trump’s alleged payment of “hush money” to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Toward the end of the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen sent $130,000 to Daniels to prevent her from disclosing a 2006 affair with Trump. Trump, who denies the affair, reimbursed Cohen through installments. The office, led by DA Alvin Bragg, has been investigating the hush money scandal — which took place in 2016 — for the past five years.
Reached for comment Friday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office would neither “confirm or comment” on the impending indictment.
The move has raised concerns from Republicans that any prosecution is politically motivated — and McCarthy wants the House to investigate.
MANHATTAN DA’S OFFICE ‘ASKED FOR A MEETING’ WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AHEAD OF POSSIBLE TRUMP INDICTMENT
“I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,” McCarthy said.
Similarly, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, asked: “How much federal funding does the Manhattan DA’s office receive?”
Any indictment of Trump, which could include him being placed in cuffs and fingerprinted, would be the first such indictment of a former president and only fuel accusations of political bias from prosecutors from Republicans.
Trump, meanwhile, called for protests and also accused the DA’s office of being “corrupt and highly political.”
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“NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!,” Trump wrote.
Fox News’ Marta Dhanis, Adam Sabes, and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
