April 2 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump‘s campaign announced Sunday that he would deliver a speech from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after his arraignment Tuesday on criminal charges stemming from an investigation into alleged hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Trump was indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan on Friday and is expected to surrender to authorities Tuesday to face around 30 charges, which remain unknown and under seal.
Some news organizations have pushed for the judge to release the indictment as lawmakers in New York sponsored legislation that would make it easier for cameras to be allowed in state courtrooms.
The news came as former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., whose office started the investigation that led to the indictment sought by his successor Alvin Bragg, warned Trump in remarks to NBC News that his recent statements could boost the case against him.
“I’ve got to say that I was disturbed to hear the former president speak in the way he spoke about the district attorney, Bragg, and even the trial court in the past week,” Vance said.
Vance added that, if he was Trump’s lawyer, he would be mindful to advise the former president not to commit “some other criminal offense like obstruction of governmental administration.”
“When you add a count like that, put it in front of a jury, it can change the jury’s mind about the severity of the case that they’re looking at,” he added.
Former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who served under Trump, similarly advised the former president on Sunday not to testify in his criminal case.
“I’m not his lawyer,” Barr said. “Generally, I think it’s a bad idea to go on the stand and I think it’s a particularly bad idea for Trump, because he lacks all self-control and it’d be very difficult to prepare him and keep him testifying in a prudent fashion.”
Barr called another investigation, probing the former president’s handling of classified documents, his “most serious case” as Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and one-time Trump ally, also weighed in on the indictment Sunday.
“All this bravado from the Trump camp is baloney,” Christie, a former prosecutor, told ABC News.
“He’s going to be charged officially on Tuesday. He’s going to have to be mugshotted, fingerprinted, and he’s going to face a criminal trial in Manhattan. He’s not gonna be able to avoid it. You can’t make that a good day.”
Meanwhile, Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina told CNN that Trump will plead not guilty during his arraignment while alleging that the statute of limitations may have passed for any alleged criminal conduct.
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, told CBS News on Sunday that he fears the indictment could be “rocket fuel” for his reelection campaign.
“I’m not worried about Alvin Bragg hurting Donald Trump. I’m worried about Alvin Bragg benefiting Donald Trump,” Bolton said.
“If Trump is acquitted or he gets the case dismissed because it’s not legally sufficient… that will be rocket fuel because he can say, ‘I told you this was a political prosecution.'”
