NYPD officers were called after an envelope containing a “suspicious white powder” was discovered in the mailroom of the district attorney who brought a criminal case against former President Donald Trump.
Police sources said the letter containing an unknown substance was discovered just after 3pm in the basement postal sorting room of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The criminal case against Mr Trump, brought last week by the DA, accuses the former president of falsifying 34 business records at his company to hide the true nature of 11 cheques paid to his onetime lawyer Michael Cohen to reward him for work covering up extramarital affairs.
Those cheques, prosecutors said, reimbursed Cohen for a $130,000 payment he made on the former President’s behalf to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who had been in negotiations to sell her story of an alleged sexual encounter with the Republican.
Cohen also played a role in arranging payments to the Playboy model Karen McDougal and to a Trump Tower doorman. Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and says the alleged encounters with Daniels and McDougal never happened.
According to ABC News the DA’s office later said the NYPD determined that the powder found in the envelope addressed to Mr Bragg was non-hazardous.
A spokesperson for Mr Bragg told the news channel: “We thank our partners at the NYPD Emergency Service Unit and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection for their quick response.”
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It’s understood the DA has been receiving additional security and protection since charges were brought against former President Trump and this is at least the second time Mr Bragg has received a letter containing a suspicious substance.
Bragg himself has received “multiple” death threats since Trump’s indictment, police sources told ABC News.
Before his court appearance former President Trump had been writing on social media about his upcoming indictment.
Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to tax evasion, lying to Congress, and campaign finance violations regarding the payments to Daniels and McDougal. He was sentenced to three years in prison, although the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic enabled him to serve the majority of the sentence under house arrest.
Although federal prosecutors referenced Donald Trump in the charges against Cohen, they chose not to pursue a criminal case against the Republican. Neither did investigators in the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, who conducted a wide-ranging probe through much of Trump’s presidency.
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