On Fox, Trump's former intelligence chief claims indictment is “election interference” by “imposter” Alvin Bragg

John Ratcliffe: “This is wholly inappropriate, you know, a complete perversion of our political system ...Donald Trump is the first but won't be the last person to be persecuted under that system.”

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From the April 2, 2023 edition of Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures

JOHN RATCLIFFE (FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE): Well, Maria, I mean, the point is this is election interference. We don't know how – no one really knows how this is going to play out. We just know that it is going to be a factor. We have crossed the Rubicon from people saying, you know, on the left, President Trump should be indicted to the discussion is going to be President Trump was indicted. And however long this case takes, and very clearly, it's not going to play out throughout the court system in less than the year that it's going to take to, you know, to, you know, reach a Republican nominee.

And so this action, this political persecution is going to influence our politics every single day for the next year until a Republican nominee is chosen, and that is, by definition, election interference. This is wholly inappropriate, you know, a complete perversion of our political system, and I think people need to, hopefully, understand and see what's going on here through these imposter D.A.s like Alvin Bragg. But this is coast to coast, you know? This is Kim Foxx in Chicago, this is George Gascon in California, this is George Soros funding all of these people where we've put socialists in charge of the American judicial system. We've put people who don't understand or appreciate or stand up for American values in charge of our legal system to distort it intentionally and deliberately and, unfortunately, Donald Trump is the first but won't be the last person to be persecuted under that system.

MARIA BARTIROMO (FOX NEWS HOST): Well, this is a really good point that you're making because George Soros makes no apology for it. In fact, he wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal just a couple of weeks ago. You're talking about the $40 million that he has donated to get these D.A.s in place. He says I've done it transparently. I've no intention of stopping. The funds I provide enable sensible, reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public. Judging by the results, the public likes what it's hearing. I'm not sure which public he's talking to because these D.A.s are using bail reform to put criminals back on the street except if it's Donald Trump.

RATCLIFFE: Maria, they're not D.A.s, they're imposter D.A.s. These are political plants. These are people who are only being supported with, you know, $40 million – in the case of Alvin Bragg a million dollars from George Soros – only because of a promise that you're in this position, you will pursue political prosecution of our opponents, those on the right. And that is, again, happening coast to coast, and that's really what's at stake. This should be a clarion call to Americans who otherwise don't tune in to politics or don't think that it affects them. It absolutely has, and the bedrock principles of our justice system are clearly under assault where, again, we have socialists who are anathema to, you know, American values in charge largely of our judicial system, you know, through these state D.A.s and prosecutors.