Donald Trump’s blustery attacks on New York authorities in the wake of his arraignment on more than 30 felony charges this week were blasted as “despicable” by a former prosecutor – who also said the former president’s behavior is worse than a “mob boss.”
“This is appalling…you do not have this behavior from a mob boss!” former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said on MSNBC Tuesday.
“There is a rule in organized crime: You do not do this with respect to prosecutors. You don’t do this with respect to the judge. You certainly don’t go after their families. It’s bad business to do that.”
Trump, 76, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 34 counts of falsifying business documents in connection to alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
In the run-up to the proceedings, he made headlines with several inflammatory social media posts directed at DA Alvin Bragg and others, including one missive that predicted “death and destruction” if he faced charges.
Judge Juan Merchan declined to issue a gag order on the case, but advised Trump’s attorneys to discourage him from continuing to sound off online.
“Defense counsel, speak to your client and anybody else you need to, and remind them to please refrain — please refrain — from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest,” Merchan said.
Just hours later, however, Trump doubled down on his criticism by calling out both Merchan and his family – including his daughter, who worked for the Biden-Harris campaign – as part of the “Trump-hating” conspiracy against him.
“This is really unbelievable that we’re talking about somebody who is the former president of the United States…it’s really just so despicable, to think that you would do that,” Weissmann said of Trump’s behavior.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Susan Necheles, even defended her flame-haired client’s online rants in a brief press circle after the arraignment.
“You may disagree with the way he spoke, but he was angry,” she said of the posts.
Trump, who is also gearing up for his 2024 White House bid, is due back in court on Dec. 4.