Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s, 49, hush money case against 76-year-old former President Donald Trump has begun to unravel, largely because it’s political abuse of the criminal justice system. Inherited from his predecessor Cyrus Vance Jr., the case was always a political hit by New York Democrats doing anything possible to prevent Trump from running for president in 2024. Vance built a case against Trump based on specious testimony largely from a convicted felon, 56-year-old disbarred attorney Michael Cohen, once Trump’s personal attorney AKA “the fixer.” Cohen has an ax to grind with his former boss, after convicted and sentenced Dec. 12, 2018 on various felonies related to a $130,000 payment to Stephanie Clifford, AKA Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star claiming she had an affair with Trump in 2006. Stormy became a blockbuster story in 2016, the year Trump ran for president.
Democrats and the press sensationalized Trump’s alleged affair with Stormy in 2016, hoping it would hand former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton an election victory Nov. 23, 2016. When Trump won the election, Democrats kept the story going hoping to use it to pressure 68-year-old former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., a partisan Democrat, to file charges against Trump. When Vance left office Dec. 31, 2021, no charges were filed against Trump, handing the case to Alvin Bragg. Bragg convened a grand jury to beat a dead horse, trying to resuscitate Vance’s case, knowing extreme weaknesses in the file. But Bragg, instead of jumping on the partisan bandwagon, should have known it was purely political, despite the fact that paying hush money during an election violated federal election law. Whether that violated New York law is anyone’s guess, beyond Bragg’s jurisdiction.
Bragg relied too heavily on Cohen, a highly impeachable witness, having a clear ax to grind in seeing Trump prosecuted. Vance and Bragg knew to get a conviction against Trump they would have to prove he intended to commit or wanted to conceal a separate crime through making payments. Vance and Bragg knew that proving intent was next to impossible, since Trump could say at trial that he only wanted to spare his wife Melania public embarrassment. Bragg would have to argue that Trump violated federal campaign law, something Cohen pled guilty to. Yet any prospective juror would question what jurisdiction does Bragg have to prosecute federal election law. “The Stormy case was the easiest, the most straightforward but, had the risk of being nothing more than a misdemeanor,” said an unnamed legal source. Hush money charges were never a standalone case.
Vance began investigating Trump in 2017, part of Democrats’ and media’s attempt to find anything impeachable to get Trump out of office. Why would Vance waste his time investigating and prosecuting Trump unless egregious crimes were committed in New York. Vance ultimately decided to not more forward, prompting one of his lead prosecutors Mark Pomerantiz to quit in early 2022. Bragg thought that Pomerantz did not collect enough evidence to gain a conviction against Trump. Under Bragg’s direction, the investigation took an ominous turn, relying on convicted felon Michael Cohen as its star witness. Bragg didn’t consider that no jury would accept the testimony of a former disgruntled Trump employee. Bragg knew the risks but chose to let politics get in the way of his job. What was the Manhattan DA doing prosecuting a former president on a weak case?
Former Manhattan DA prosecutor Mark Bederow said Bragg’s case was “likely to fail,” citing the “convoluted” nature of the case. “They have to demonstrate that his [Trump’s] intent was to defraud and also that his intent was also to cover up another crime,” Bederow said. “What if he did that to protect his own reputation, to protect his wife from humiliation or some other personal reason?” Bederow said. “That’s not an intent to defraud,” showing, as Vance knew, that the case against Trump lacked legal merits. Whether Bragg admits it or not, he’s been pushed to prosecute Trump by Democrat operatives, looking to sabotage his 2024 election campaign. Bragg knows that relying on Michael Cohen’s testimony is bound to fail, with Trump’s defense attorney taking it apart in front of a jury. Instead of pushing for Trump’s prosecution, the press should expose Dmoocrat politics.
Given all the media attention on Bragg filing charges against Trump, the press should investigate how the criminal justice system is weaponized for political purposes. If Vance knew the case against Trump was weak, why would he continue to beat a dead horse, unless he was pressed to do it by Democrat operatives? Time for Democrats and the press to admit they used the criminal justice system to go after Trump for his 2016 campaign and four years in office. Hillary fake “dossier” claimed Trump was bought off by the Kremlin. When you consider that no one in the Department of Justice, FBI, CIA or National Security Agency was prosecuted for the illegal investigation into Trump, it’s no wonder Bragg thought he could get away with it too. Democrats and the press need to stop subverting the rule or law to advance a political agenda, this time sabotaging Trump’s 2024 campaign.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global new. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
