Mary Trump, a political commentator and the niece of former President Donald Trump, issued a warning on Friday to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as he faces continued attacks from her uncle.
Bragg and his office are currently leading a long-term investigation into allegations of Trump’s involvement in a 2016 plan to pay $130,000 in “hush money” to adult film star Stormy Daniels, in exchange for her staying quiet about an affair the two allegedly had a decade prior. Recent moves have indicated to legal experts that Bragg is nearing a criminal indictment against Trump for falsifying business records pertaining to the payment, which would be the first such indictment brought against a former president in American history.
Trump, for his part, has denied that the affair with Daniels ever happened and has consistently attacked the legitimacy of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation, accusing Bragg of being a politically motivated “rogue” prosecutor. Last Saturday, Trump claimed on Truth Social to have heard leaked reports that he would be arrested on Tuesday, a claim that did not end up being true, but which did ramp up attacks on Bragg from Trump supporters and some Republican lawmakers.
Speaking on the Friday episode of her online video series, The Mary Trump Show, Mary Trump, an outspoken critic of her uncle in recent years, warned Bragg to take extra steps to protect his own safety. Her remark came as she discussed Trump’s claims that he would be arrested on Tuesday, which she dismissed as “a very melodramatic lie” intended to get someone to “do his bidding.”
“What happened is he needed attention, he told a lie, a very melodramatic lie, a lot of people fell for it, and suddenly he had a platform again to set up the situation in which someone potentially could do his bidding,” Mary Trump said. “Put it this way: I hope Mr. Bragg has lots of security, and I hope at some point in the not-too-distant future, a judge determines that not only has Donald engaged in very ill-advised, shall we say, rhetoric, but also potentially dangerous rhetoric…He’s essentially calling for violence, and in some cases, calling for violence against a specific individual.
In the Truth Social posts claiming that his arrest was imminent, Trump also urged his supporters to “PROTEST,” which many observers likened to his rhetoric in the lead-up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In an email sent to employees in his office, Politico reported last week, Bragg said that “we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York.”
“Our law enforcement partners will ensure that any specific or credible threats against the office will be fully investigated and that the proper safeguards are in place so all 1,600 of us have a secure work environment,” the email continued.
