‘Merchant of Death’ warns Trump of assassination threat
Russia’s notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, played by Nicolas Cage in a Hollywood blockbuster, offered Donald Trump asylum in Moscow after arrest put ‘his life in peril’.
Russia’s infamous “merchant of death” warned Donald Trump to seek asylum with Vladimir Putin or face being murdered in a US prison.
The notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, played by Nicholas Cage in the 2005 movie Lord of War, said he wrote to Trump in a Telegram message that his “life is in peril” and that he should flee to Russia immediately for his safety.
Bout, who was freed from US jail in a prisoner exchange with basketball Britney Griner, said in an interview on state television that Trump would find a safe haven in Russia to “lead the fight for the American people”.
“The Biden administration will not stop just by dragging you through the court/prison industrial complex,” Bout said, referring to Trump’s successor Joe Biden.
“They would sooner end your life than let you stand in their way.”
“The legal process which has now begun in New York won’t just end in Donald Trump being convicted and barred from the [2024] election,” he continued.
“Most likely he will simply be eliminated there.
“Therefore, I think it’s in the best interests of all of humanity and primarily all of the American people to invite Donald Trump here, to Russia, to give him security and protection here so that he leads this uprising against the globalists and, most importantly, does not allow the elimination of the American people.”
Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in a US prison when he was swapped for Griner. He has since joined a Russian nationalist party.
Accused of arming rebels in some of the world’s bloodiest conflicts, Bout was arrested in Thailand in a US sting operation in 2008, extradited to the United States and sentenced in 2012.
REPUBLICANS INVESTIGATE THE INVESTIGATORS
As Trump continued to rail against his accusers and prosecutors on social media, the Republican Party formalised its investigation into the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a subpoena to a former prosecutor involved in the investigation who abruptly resigned from Bragg’s office last year.
Bragg accused Republicans of trying to “undermine” the criminal case against Trump, saying “repeated efforts to weaken state and local law enforcement actions are an abuse of power and will not deter us from our duty to uphold the law”.
The ability of Bragg to secure a conviction has come under further question as law enforcement insiders delve deeper into the statement of facts, with former FBI director Andrew McCabe calling the indictment a “disappointment”.
“What is the legal theory that ties a very solid misdemeanour case … to the intent to conceal another crime, which is what makes it a felony?” Mr McCabe asked.
“If all of our legal friends read this indictment and don’t see a way to a felony, it’s hard to imagine convincing a jury that they should get there.”
Legal analyst Joyce Vance said prosecutors put forward evidence to up-end Trump’s potential “protect Melania” defence, which the former president’s lawyers could argue was his intent, as opposed to wanting to influence the 2016 election.
“Here’s the chef’s kiss,” Vance said of the indictment. “They structured at least one of the deals so they wouldn’t have to pay out funds if Trump lost the election. It was never about protecting Melania.”
Mrs Trump, meanwhile, has been conspicuously absent from her husband’s side throughout the entire saga, missing his arrest and court appearance in New York, and his speech at Mar-a-Lago.
Her former aide, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, said Mrs Trump’s silence is deliberate. “It is her weapon of choice and her protective armour,” she said.
STORMY DANIELS’ STUNNING ADMISSION
American porn star Stormy Daniels has claimed she “absolutely” wants to testify at trial about her alleged affair with Donald Trump — and that the former US President also “absolutely” deserves to go to jail. But, unexpectedly, she added she does not think “his crimes against me are worthy of incarceration”.
“It’s scary,” Daniels told Piers Morgan of potentially being a witness if the historic charges against Mr Trump make it to trial.
“Any time you’re up in the public eye it’s scary. I mean I used to get scared given an oral book report at school,” she said of the likelihood of being called as a witness.
“So it’s daunting, but I look forward to it,” stated Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in a clip of her full sit-down interview with Morgan which is slated to air on Friday in Australia at 9pm on Sky News.
“Because I have nothing to hide — I’m the only one who has been telling the truth.”
Stormy Daniels has told Piers Morgan she thinks Donald Trump should go to jail if found guilty of the crimes he's been accused of.
— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) April 6, 2023
"If he doesn't, it opens the door for other people to think they can get away with that, and worse."
Watch more at 8pm on TalkTV.@piersmorganpic.twitter.com/SmF82wUIEI
The adult film star also defiantly asserted that the public can’t “shame me any more” than she already has been.
In a statement from his 2024 campaign, Mr Trump hit back at Ms Daniels.
“The Federal Ninth Circuit just awarded me another $122,000 from Stormy Daniels over the hundreds of thousands of dollars she owes me and now Stormy ‘Horseface’ Daniels, who I never had an affair with, is out yet again for her moment of fame!”
According to a report in the New York Post, Ms Daniels — who planned to tell all before the 2016 election led to a $US130,000 ($A190,000) hush money payout at the heart of the historic charges of a US president — suggested that not getting called as a witness at the eventual trial could ruin the validity of her whole story.
“I feel like if they don’t it paints the picture that they know something about me that makes me untrustworthy or not reliable,” she told Mr Morgan.
“Having them call me in and put me on the stand legitimises my story and who I am, and if they don’t it almost feels like they’re hiding me.”
Without that, people would “automatically assume — I would! — that oh, she must not be a good witness, she’s not credible,” she said.
Asked if that meant she actually wants to give evidence, she confirmed, “I do, I do” — giving a firm “oh, absolutely” that she would appear if called.
Ms Daniels also said Mr Trump deserves jail time if found guilty of some of the 34 federal charges he faces stemming from so-called “catch-and-kill” payouts to boost his chances of victory in the 2016 election.
“I don’t think his crimes against me are worthy of incarceration,” she said of her alleged consensual sex with the already married Mr Trump, whom the porn star nicknamed “Tiny.”
But “I feel like the other things that he has done, if he is found guilty, absolutely,” she said of wanting to see him jailed.
Daniels told Morgan she feared if Mr Trump is found guilty but avoids jail “it opens the door for other people to think they can get away with doing that — and worse”.
Mr Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges during his historic arraignment in New York criminal court on Tuesday local time, repeatedly claiming it is part of the latest “witch hunt” against him.
He has always denied having sex with Ms Daniels, which she said happened while Mr Trump was married to Melania Trump.
‘TRUMP GLOATS: ‘BEST DAY IN HISTORY’
It comes as Mr Trump described his arrest and arraignment as an “unbelievable experience” and the “Best Day in History” – when he became the first current or former US President ever charged with a crime.
“As much as I can enjoy a day like Tuesday, where the Radical Left Lunatics, Maniacs, and Perverts had me Indicted and ARRESTED for no reason whatsoever, there was no Crime, it was an unbelievable experience, perhaps the Best Day in History for somebody who had just suffered Unjustifiable Indictment!” he wrote on Truth Social.
But despite his claims, he appeared glum when he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts in Manhattan Criminal Court earlier this week.
Now, Judge Juan Merchan is receiving dozens of threats after Mr Trump railed against him in a speech at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night local time.
Critics accused Mr Trump of attempting to intimidate the judge.
Criticism appears to also be closer to home as Melania Trump’s apparent reason for missing his post-arraignment speech was revealed.
Former aide Stephanie Winston Wolkoff told the New York Post that Mrs Trump’s “silence is deliberate”.
“It is her weapon of choice and her protective armour,” she said.
TRUMP CAMPAIGN TOUTS RISING POLL NUMBERS
Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s 2024 campaign is touting their candidate’s surging poll numbers in the latest Republican nomination surveys in an effort to sway GOP donors away from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The Trump campaign, in an email sent earlier this week to DeSantis donors and obtained by Fox News, emphasises that “now is the time to demonstrate your support and join Team 47 early.”
“The two things the memo illustrates are the President’s huge numbers and Governor Ron DeSantis’ collapsing numbers,” the Trump campaign wrote in the memo.
Mr Trump, who launched his third straight White House campaign in November, has seen his status as the current frontrunner in the 2024 GOP nomination race further cemented in recent weeks, thanks to a rise in his poll numbers as Republicans rallied around Trump as he became the first former president in American history to be indicted.
Originally published as ‘Merchant of Death’ warns Trump of assassination threat
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