Leaked details about Donald Trump‘s indictment are grounds for criminal charges, a top official from the former president’s administration said on Sunday.
John Ratcliffe, a former U.S. congressman and federal prosecutor who served as Trump’s final director of national intelligence, reacted to reports that Trump faces around 30 counts related to business fraud as part of the investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“The only felony of which we can be certain to come out of this Alvin Bragg prosecution in New York is the felony committed either by DA Bragg himself or someone on the grand jury that he’s using for this perversion of our justice system,” Ratcliffe told “Sunday Morning Futures” anchor Maria Bartiromo.
“The accused, Donald Trump, and his lawyers, don’t know what’s in this sealed indictment. But for the past, what? Seventy-two hours, the American public has been discussing supposedly 30 or 34 felony counts,” he added. “Leaking grand jury information is a felony. And so the only people capable of that would be Alvin Bragg’s team or members of the grand jury itself.”
DNI John Ratcliffe says that Alvin Bragg may have committed a felony.
Leaking grand jury information is a felony and so the only people capable of that would be Alvin Bragg’s team or members of the grand jury itself.”
Ready for the boomerang? pic.twitter.com/kshBZVG0rA
— vanhoa (@vanhoa2272) April 2, 2023
CNN and NBC News each cited “two sources familiar” with the matter in reporting that Trump faces about 30 charges following the revelation on Thursday that Trump became the first former president to face criminal charges.
Though exact details about the indictment remain unclear, Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina told ABC News on Sunday he was certain they “revolved around” the documentation of hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election cycle.
Ratcliffe isn’t the only person saying there could have been criminal leaks. Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz shared a similar view during an appearance on OANN, noting that such a violation of New York penal law could warrant up to five years behind bars.
There is a crime — illegal grand jury leaks from Bragg’s office! pic.twitter.com/qHw20yK3s9
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) April 1, 2023
Trump, who is months into his third campaign for president, claims he is the target of “political persecution” and denies any wrongdoing.
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Republicans in Congress have opened an investigation seeking documents and testimony from Bragg’s team. Bragg, a Democrat, responded by urging the GOP lawmakers to back off and “let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference.”
Bragg’s office also issued a brief statement on Thursday saying the prosecutor’s team had been in contact with Trump’s legal counsel to coordinate about surrendering following the indictment.
The arraignment is set for Tuesday in New York. Trump’s re-election campaign announced on Sunday the former president would deliver a public address from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Tuesday night.
