Alvin Bragg’s Trump Indictment Is Even More Pathetic And Partisan Than We Could Have Imagined

The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, recently filed a 34-count indictment against former President Donald Trump. Unfortunately, the indictment focuses on claims that are flimsy and repetitive, causing some people to believe that Bragg is simply using this as an opportunity to attempt to damage Trump. Despite the seemingly weak nature of the charges, Trump pleaded not guilty in a New York State courtroom yesterday.

As the details of the indictment were released, many people were underwhelmed with the lack of evidence and substance that the charges contained. The indictment accuses Trump of violating §175.10 of the New York Penal Law through the use of false business records. However, the accusations made against him are repetitive, with the same template used in each count. This repetition stacks up to 34 counts, with many of them alleging that Trump violated election laws by making payments to Michael Cohen between February and December of 2017.

Along with the indictment, Bragg released a “Statement of the Facts,” but this failed to provide any additional details to support the charges against Trump. In fact, the summary makes it seem as though Trump’s alleged crime was participating in a “catch and kill scheme to suppress negative information,” which in and of itself is not necessarily illegal.

Neither the indictment nor the statement of facts identify the specific crime that Trump was intending to commit in the process of falsifying business records, which is required for the charges to qualify as felonies. Additionally, there is no explanation for why the charges are not barred by the governing five-year statute of limitations. Trump’s legal team will likely question Bragg’s ability to explain both of these issues in upcoming motions.

Experts spent nearly a week speculating on the possible theories Bragg might use to justify criminal charges against Trump, and a weak consensus formed that Bragg could try to claim that Trump falsified business records to conceal campaign finance crimes. However, Bragg failed to present any proof of this, leaving the American public with more questions than answers.

In summary, the indictment and accompanying statement of facts are poorly constructed and unconvincing. The charges appear to be an example of partisan politics, and Bragg may soon find himself abandoned by fellow Democrats who do not want to be associated with political targeting of Trump.