Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday refused to say whether he has confidence in the Manhattan district attorney leading the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s alleged hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels that could result in an indictment.
The New York Democrat dodged multiple questions lobbed by reporters at the US Capitol regarding DA Alvin Bragg’s Trump probe — and gave a less-than-enthusiastic response when asked whether he has confidence in the 49-year-old prosecutor.
“Look, the bottom line, is — as I said — it’s premature to comment on what’s happening and we’ll have to wait and see what he does,” Schumer said.
The Senate Majority Leader gave a similar response when asked to comment on House Republicans who are criticizing the possible indictment of the 76-year-old former president as being politically motivated.
“Look, I think it is premature to talk about it. We don’t know what’s going to happen yet,” Schumer said.
Fellow Senate Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is up for re-election next year, was far more blunt earlier this week, warning that Bragg’s potential indictment of the 45th president may backfire on Democrats.
“There’s many reasons not to support Donald Trump. There’s many reasons why Donald Trump should not be president again of the United States, but you should not allow the court system to be viewed as a political pawn,” Manchin told reporters Tuesday.
“I think it would basically have the reverse effect as what some people would think, not for the good,” he added.
The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence against Trump in the case of a $130,000 payment made to Daniels by former Trump fixer Michael Cohen in 2016, allegedly to keep her quiet about a 2006 affair, has been put on standby over the uncertainty of whether a witness would be available to testify Thursday, a source told The Post.
A source with ties to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office also told The Post Wednesday that Bragg is concerned the grand jury may not go along with the indictment.
“The last thing he wants is for the grand jury to vote against him,” the source said. “He wants a no-doubt-about-it case. He is pressuring the ‘Trump obsessed’ to step up and prove the case.”
And The Post has learned that some in Bragg’s office don’t understand how the case is continuing to move forward.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) became one of the strongest voices against Bragg’s investigation Tuesday when he called on the prosecutor to be jailed over his handling of the criminal investigation against the former president.
“A Trump indictment would be a disgusting abuse of power. The DA should be put in jail,” Paul wrote in a scathing tweet.
Trump, who last November announced that he is running for president again, has denied wrongdoing and has accused Bragg of “Prosecutorial Misconduct and Interference with an Election.”
“Investigate the Investigators!” the former president wrote in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
