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Trump comments on his picture wielding baseball bat next to Alvin Braggs head

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Former President Donald Trump offered a rambling response as he defended himself after an image of him holding a baseball bat next to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was posted to his Truth Social account.

Mr Trump appeared to blame the outlet that had written the story his account was linking to.

What they did is, we posted the story, but they had a picture up ... or the picture was put up that nobody noticed, saw or that nobody thought was bad. These were two separate pictures, he told Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Meanwhile, a longtime friend of Mr Trump and the former chief of the parent company in charge of the tabloid the National Enquirer, David Pecker, returned to the building where the grand jury has been hearing testimony in the hush money probe on Monday night.

Mr Trump also attacked his top 2024 rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in his interview with Fox News on Monday night.

I got him the nomination, Mr Trump said of Mr DeSantis being the 2018 GOP gubernatorial nominee.

He would be working in either a pizza parlour place or a law office right now, he added.

Donald Trump offered a bizarre and rambling response when he was asked about a controversial Truth Social post showing him wielding a baseball bat next to Manhattan district attorney Alvin Braggs head.

Mr Trumps defence has come as his social media shows an increase in inflammatory rhetoric against the investigation on a hush money payment that could lead to charges being brought against him, but which the twice-impeached president now claims have been dropped.

Why open yourself up to criticism? Hannity asked.

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Stuti Mishra28 March 2023 15:00

Donald Trump has bragged about how his great endorsement for Ron DeSantis during the 2018 gubernatorial race had helped the Florida governor, without which he would be working in a pizza parlour.

Both Republican leaders have stepped up attacks on each other in the run up to the 2024 presidential election, though Mr DeSantis is yet to officially declare that he will run for president.

Mr Trumps fresh remarks in an interview with Fox Newss Sean Hannity on Monday night have come after Mr DeSantiss own sass-infused comments about the investigation on the hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels.

The question Im asked the most about you of late is Ron DeSantis. This is the question what happened? I thought they were friends, said Hannity.

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Namita Singh28 March 2023 14:30

Trump raised anticipation that criminal charges were imminent with a March 18 post on his social media platform in which he said he expected to be arrested last Tuesday. He has since used the absence of an indictment to claim, furnishing no evidence, that the investigation is somehow faltering.

The Republican former president has also escalated his rhetoric, warning that potential death & destruction would accompany any indictment. He also posted a photo of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat. On Thursday, Trump referred to Bragg, Manhattans first Black D.A., as an animal.

In a memo to staff Friday, Bragg thanked the nearly 1,600 people for persevering in the face of additional press attention and security around our office and said their safety remains the top priority.

We will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, which is what each of you does every single day, Bragg wrote.

Since then, former federal prosecutors in New York City have rallied to Braggs defense, signing a letter that condemned the verbal attacks.

As former prosecutors, we denounce efforts to intimidate the Manhattan District Attorney and we call upon all to support and protect prosecutorial independence and the rule of law, he said.

Among the witnesses the grand jury has already heard from is Michael Cohen, Trumps former lawyer and fixer who has said he orchestrated the payoffs. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges arising from the payments and has become a potentially major witness for state prosecutors.

Pecker is seen as relevant to the investigation because his company, American Media Inc., secretly assisted Trumps campaign by paying $150,000 to McDougal in August 2016 for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. The company then suppressed McDougals story until after the election, a dubious journalism practice known as catch-and-kill.

Cohen made recordings of a conversation in which he and Trump spoke about the arrangement to pay McDougal through the tabloid publisher.

At one point in the recording, Cohen told Trump, I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David, a reference to Pecker.

Cohen told Trump that he had already spoken with the Trump Organizations longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, on how to set the whole thing up.

Trump then said: What do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?

Cohen also signed an agreement to buy the nondisclosure part of McDougals contract with AMI for $125,000 through a company he formed called Resolution Consultants LLC, but a few months later Pecker told Cohen that the deal was off and Cohen never paid the $125,000, according to court documents from Cohens criminal case.

Separately, Cohen has admitted to paying $130,000 to Daniels to keep her from telling her story to the Enquirer or some other media.

Trump has said that he personally, not his company, reimbursed Cohen.

Federal prosecutors revealed in 2018 that they had agreed not to bring criminal charges against AMI. Pecker has since stepped down as CEO.

A pivotal figure in the hush money payment investigation of Donald Trump returned on Monday to the building where a grand jury has been meeting for months, a repeat appearance suggesting his testimony could be key as prosecutors push toward potential criminal charges.

There was still no word on when the panel might vote on a possible indictment of the former president.

David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend and the former chief executive of the parent company of The National Enquirer, was back as the grand jury heard testimony in the probe for the first time since last Monday, when a witness favorable to the ex-president appeared.

The grand jury is now back on the Trump matter, according to a person familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss secretive proceedings. The ex-president is being investigated over payments during his 2016 campaign to two women who alleged affairs or sexual encounters with him.

Trump denies being involved with either of the women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and model Karen McDougal, and claims hes the victim of extortion.

The Manhattan grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump over hush money payments returned on Monday to hear more evidence, with still no word on when it might be asked to vote on a possible indictment.

It was the first time the panel was hearing testimony in the Trump probe since last Monday, when a witness favorable to the ex-president appeared before the grand jury. The jurors did not meet at all on Wednesday, one of the days when they ordinarily convene, and heard other matters on Thursday. The members typically do not meet on Tuesdays or Fridays.

The grand jury is now back on Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss secretive proceedings. It was not immediately clear whether an additional witness might be called before the panel.

Trump raised anticipation that criminal charges were imminent with a March 18 post on his social media platform in which he said he expected to be arrested last Tuesday. He has since used the absence of an indictment to claim, furnishing no evidence, that the investigation is somehow faltering.

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John Bowden28 March 2023 13:00

Speaking to reporters on 25 March, the former president said he thinks the office of New York County district attorney Alvin Bragg is no longer investigating Mr Trumps alleged hush money payment to an adult film star in the runup to the 2016 presidential election.

I think theyve already dropped the case, he said, according to Axios. Its a fake case. Some fake cases, they have absolutely nothing.

A New York grand jury continues to hear witnesses and evidence in that case. Mr Trump and his aides have blamed leaks and rumours for his claims, though the former president appeared to be the only source for publicly announcing them, and his team has clarified that he did not receive any indications from prosecutors that would be imminently charged.

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John Bowden28 March 2023 12:30

In an all-caps warning on his Truth Social account on 18 March, the former president predicted his own arrest and called on his supporters to protest what he called the corrupt and highly political Manhattan district attorneys office.

A Trump spokesperson later clarified the former presidents team has been given no notification of an impending arrest or indictment beside illegal leaks, though Mr Trump was the only person to have announced his imminent arrest, which he said would take place on 21 March.

A grand jury in New York City has met on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays since January to consider evidence involving the former presidents role involving a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels that prosecutors at the New York County district attorneys office reportedly allege was an illegal campaign expenditure.

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John Bowden28 March 2023 12:00

The comments were made during an interview with journalist Piers Morgan, due to air in the coming days on the streaming service Fox Nation. Excerpts were released on Monday by Fox News.

Speaking with Morgan, Mr Netanyahu said that Mr Trump should be rebuked and condemned for his meeting with Fuentes, who regularly rants about the Jewish people and is known for his denial of the Holocaust.

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John Bowden28 March 2023 11:30

Ms Daniels alleges that she had an affair with Mr Trump in 2006. She was paid off to keep quiet about the supposed extramarital activity.

Mr Trump insulted Ms Daniels during his Saturday rally in Waco, Texas, rejecting all allegations of an affair.

Sex with Stormy Daniels is traumatic enough. Hasnt President Trump been punished enough? one Twitter user said.

I think he needs another spanking, Ms Daniels responded.

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John Bowden28 March 2023 11:00

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Ex-Trump press secretary ridiculed by fellow conservatives for Mike Pence support - The Independent