Trump lashes out at Biden in evidence-free rant as he frets about impending charges

Former president alleges federal fingerprints on Manhattan DA’s investigation

Donald Trump lashed out at Joe Biden on Sunday as he appears to be consumed with anger and concern over the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into a hush payment his attorney made to an adult film star on his behalf in 2016.

In his latest rant, the former president accused the Biden administration of working hand in hand with Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor who empaneled a grand jury investigation in January that now appears to be nearing criminal charges.

“Biden wants to pretend he has nothing to do with the Manhattan D.A.’s Assault on Democracy when, in fact, he has “stuffed” the D.A.’s Office with Department of Injustice people, including one top DOJ operative from D.C. who is actually running the “Horseface” Witch Hunt. Bragg is a (Soros) Racist in Reverse, who is taking his orders from D.C.,” claimed the former president on Sunday in a post to Truth Social, using a derogatory nickname for Ms Daniels in the process.

He went on to boast about eluding charges in other unspecified investigations. Mr Trump’s reference to a supposed DoJ operative in Mr Bragg’s office likely refers to the December hiring by Mr Bragg of former acting Associate Attorney Matthew Colangelo, though it’s not clear whether Mr Colangelo is even involved with Mr Trump’s case and there’s absolutely no evidence of any collusion between Mr Colangelo and his former colleagues at the DoJ.

Mr Bragg’s investigation is thought to be nearing the moment of a criminal indictment (or indictments) being handed down targeting Donald Trump and potentially others in his inner circle. The ex-president himself said as much on Saturday when he speculated that he would be arrested on Tuesday, though his words were likely based on media reports and not actual knowledge of the future steps of the grand jury probe.

The 2016 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels has haunted Mr Trump politically for years, and led to his former attorney being disbarred and sent to prison on campaign finance violations during his presidency. Now, with Mr Trump out of office, the investigation has taken on renewed vigour.

Ms Daniels and Mr Trump have long warred over whether or not they engaged in a sexual relationship; the former sued Mr Trump after he became president for defamation over the matter, but had her case thrown out of court.

Her own attorney, Michael Avenatti, would go on to be convicted for defrauding his clients and sent to prison as well.

The Department of Justice is running its own, separate investigations into the former president. He remains under investigation for improperly holding presidential records and classified materials, though that probe has since expanded to result in the discovery of troves of documents at the homes of both Joe Biden and Mike Pence. He also remains a potential target of the DoJ’s investigation into the January 6 attack on Congress, which was a result of his effort to overturn the 2020 election.