Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arrives at his office, Friday, March 24, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
The Manhattan district attorney investigating former President Donald Trump was mailed an envelope containing a suspicious “white powder,” a police spokesperson confirmed to Law&Crime.
The New York City Police Department revealed few details about the envelope, other than that it was received “inside the location” at about 12:03 p.m. ET. Authorities did not disclose any information about the sender or the addressee.
Citing an anonymous source, Fox News reported that the envelope contained a note: “Alvin — I’ll kill you.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office announced that the enclosed powder wasn’t dangerous.
“The DA has informed the office that it was immediately contained and that the NYPD Emergency Service Unit and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection determined there was no dangerous substance,” a spokeswoman said.
Tensions have been high in lower Manhattan since Trump erroneously predicted that he would be arrested this past Tuesday, calling upon his supporters to “PROTEST” and “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
That post on Truth Social sparked comparisons to the lead-up to the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, but few of Trump’s supporters actually showed up to the plaza across the street from Manhattan Criminal Court, located downtown at 100 Center Street. That isn’t to say that the atmosphere has been subdued.
Before a hearing in Trump’s $250 million civil fraud lawsuit, the judge’s clerk announced that proceedings had been delayed because of a “security issue” affecting the complex of courthouses in lower Manhattan. That threat was resolved shortly after, with the clerk announcing: “We’re all safe.”
Trump has been ratcheting up his rhetoric ever since, sharing a link to a far-right website that published an image of him with the baseball bat juxtaposed with a picture of Bragg. The former president also called Bragg an “animal” and “HUMAN SCUM.” In a post-midnight missive time-stamped 1:08 a.m. ET, he warned of “potential death & destruction” if he’s indicted.
Bragg is believed to be planning to charge Trump with offenses related to hush-money payments to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
When Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, he admitted that he arranged for the $130,000 payment to Daniels through a home equity line of credit that he funneled through a shell company, Essential Consultants. The transfer went to Daniels’ then-lawyer Keith Davidson, in a payment labeled a “retainer.”
Cohen said he was then reimbursed $420,000 in monthly installments of $35,000, releasing checks in that amount with Trump’s signature and that of his son Donald Trump, Jr. Those payments, made “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump, were marked “legal expenses,” federal prosecutors said.
Though the Justice Department never charged Trump, Manhattan prosecutors are reportedly eyeing whether to charge the former president with falsifying business records. That misdemeanor can be converted to a felony if prosecutors prove that Trump had the intent to defraud in the commission of another crime.
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