ENRAGED REPUB POLS BASH BRAGG

Call hush money case vs. Trump ‘persecution’

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) called GOP efforts to grill Bragg “an astonishing and unprecedented abuse of power” and accused Republican leaders of doing Trump’s bidding to derail the prosecution of him.

McCarthy insisted Tuesday that he has not spoken to Trump about the probe.

Nikki Haley, the only major announced presidential rival to Trump, also accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of using the probe to score “political points.”

“When you get into political prosecutions like this, it’s more about revenge than it is about justice,” Haley, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, said late Monday.

Haley spoke out a day after Florida Gov.

Ron DeSantis, another putative GOP White House candidate, also denounced Bragg for targeting Trump.

DeSantis made a point of also dinging Trump for getting himself into the R-rated mess in the first place.

Grand jury secrecy laws would likely prevent Bragg from publicly discussing the Trump case, especially before any potential indictment is handed down.

Trump defense lawyers say they do not expect the panel to decide until Wednesday at the earliest whether to charge the former president.

Trump is accused of paying $130,000 to Daniels to keep the porn star quiet about a previous sexual encounter in the days before the 2016 presidential election.

He later reimbursed ex-fixer Michael Cohen but claimed the cash was for “legal expenses.”

Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor in New York but can be charged as a felony if the crime is committed in furtherance of another crime.

Trump is also facing myriad other criminal probes including a Georgia investigation into election interference.

Federal special counsel Jack Smith is investigating Trump’s taking classified government documents when he left the White House as well as his role in overturning the 2020 election and inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.