Republicans allay Trump’s calls for ‘protest’ of his possible arrest

​House Republicans at their annual retreat in Orlando called for calmer heads to prevail in response to Donald Trump’s calls for supporters to “protest, take our nation back” over his claims that he will be arrested on Tuesday.

The tamp-down of Trump’s rhetoric came as the former president lashed out at his former “fixer” Michael Cohen to discredit his testimony to a Manhattan grand jury.

“I don’t think people should protest this, no,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters Sunday night when asked about Trump’s weekend postings.

“And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that either.”

The House speaker suggested that Trump was trying to “educate people about what’s going on.”

“He’s not talking in a harmful way. And nobody should. Nobody should harm one another in this. And this is why you should really make law equal, because if that was the case, nothing would happen here. And that is what has to transpire,” McCarthy continued.

The Republican leader was pressed at the Sunday news conference about Trump claiming that he would be arrested on Tuesday by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Trump said in an all-caps message Saturday morning.

It was just one of many postings by the 45th president over the weekend, decrying the investigation and slamming the Manhattan DA.

Trump resumed where he left off on Monday morning, this time singling out Cohen, his former attorney and “fixer” who did time in federal prison for paying Daniels and who has given key testimony to the Manhattan grand jury investigating Trump.

“IT IS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF MANHATTAN WHO IS BREAKING THE LAW BY USING THE FAKE AND FULLY DISCREDITED TESTIMONY (EVEN BY THE SDNY!) OF A CONVICTED LIAR, FELON AND JAILBIRD, MICHAEL COHEN, TO INCREDIBLY PERSECUTE, PROSECUTE, AND INDICT A FORMER PRESIDENT, AND NOW LEADING (BY FAR!) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, FOR A CRIME THAT DOESN’T EXIST,” the former president said on his Truth Social messaging platform.

“ALVIN BRAGG SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE CRIME OF ‘INTERFERENCE IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,’” he added in another message that echoed his sentiments from Sunday.

Trump’s possible indictment stems from the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels in 2016 to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter she claims she had with Trump a decade earlier. 

The former president reimbursed Cohen for the payment which was falsely recorded as “legal expenses.”

Trump has denied the affair and the payment. 

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating federal campaign laws and was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

McCarthy, who has called for an “immediate” investigation into Bragg’s “politically motivated prosecution” of Trump, on Sunday said the DA’s case was weak. 

“The last thing we want to have is somebody putting their thumb on the scale simply because they don’t agree with somebody else’s political view. That is what’s wrong, and that’s what infuriates people. And this will not hold up in court,” McCarthy said.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a loyal supporter of both Trump and McCarthy, also tried to calm emotions over a possible arrest of the former president.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with calling​ ​…​ ​for protests. Americans have the right to assemble and the right to protest,” Greene ​said.

She said Trump “doesn’t have to say peaceful for it to mean peaceful. Of course, he means peaceful.”

Meanwhile, Robert Costello, a Trump ally who had advised Cohen before the two men had a falling out, was invited to address the Manhattan grand jury on Monday in an effort to undercut the credibility of Cohen’s statements. 

Costello was invited to appear by Trump’s lawyers, the New York Times reported. 

Cohen, in an appearance Sunday on MSNBC, said he’s been asked to be a rebuttal witness by the DA.

“Yes, I was asked to make myself available and to be at the DA’s office tomorrow as a rebuttal witness,” Cohen said. 

H​e said he didn’t know who was testifying.

“Obviously, once I find out who the person is I’ll know what the issue is because I was personally involved,” Cohen said, adding that his testimony has been corroborated by others and “documentary evidence.”