- Former President Donald Trump is facing a Manhattan grand jury indictment, the charges of which are currently sealed.
- Fox News host Tucker Carlson said the crime of leaking the indictment to the media is much bigger than the charges against Trump.
- Trump may face at least one felony count and up to 30 counts in total, according to news reports.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has said that leaks to the media about a recent indictment of former President Donald Trump are a “much bigger crime” than anything Trump will be charged with after a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him on Thursday.
The indictment is currently sealed and it’s not yet clear exactly what charges the former president will be facing but news reports suggest the indictment will include multiple counts.
The charges relate to Trump’s alleged role in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016, which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has been investigating.
Carlson told viewers of his Fox News prime time show that Trump wasn’t being charged “with treason or insurrection or collusion or even shoplifting, but with something much smaller – a slew of process crimes he apparently made seven years ago.
“In no fair system would that be a crime under the law seven years later,” Carlson went on, saying that Bragg had “stitched together a Frankenstein legal theory to justify this prosecution.”
“Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible because the statute of limitations has passed,” he said.
“And if that isn’t third world enough someone leaked the news of Donald Trump’s grand jury indictment to the media,” Carlson said. “Now that in itself is a crime under the law in New York, in fact, a much bigger crime than those under which Donald Trump is being charged.”
“Will Alvin Bragg prosecute the leaker?” he asked. “Please. It’s almost certainly someone in his own office.”
The Associated Press reported on Friday that Trump could be facing at least one felony count among multiple charges, citing two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Separately, CNN reported on Friday that Trump was facing at least 30 counts and cited two sources familiar with the case.
Under New York state law, it is a Class E felony to leak grand jury testimony. Though Class E is the lowest classification of felony in the state, such offenses can still be punished by a sentence of more than a year in prison.
James Trusty, an attorney for Trump, also criticized “leaked indictments making their way out to the public” during an interview with NewsNation on Friday when he was asked about the recent AP report.
“Again, with Donald Trump, there’s just rule of law,” Trusty said. “This is just a small example of it that begins with Alvin Bragg’s persecution – his stated aim of indicting him.”
Trusty is representing Trump in two other cases – the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and allegations of interference in the 2020 presidential election.
The former president plans to travel to New York from his home in Palm Beach, Florida on Monday and present himself in court in Manhattan on Tuesday for his arraignment.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and denied ever having an affair with Daniels and he has also repeatedly criticized the investigation, as well District Attorney Bragg.
Newsweek has reached out to the Manhattan DA’s office via email for comment.
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