The New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg has officially indicted former President Donald Trump. The charges are related to campaign money Trump and his team allegedly used to pay off Stormy Daniels, the porn star who accused Trump of an affair, and another woman. Needless to say, none of this is beneficial to the country.
Donald Trump is not a man necessarily known for his fidelity, but as his political profile grew in 2016, there would naturally be people who would claim that they had a relationship with the married candidate for a payout, whether the story was true or. not. As a standard operating procedure for most cases, those making claims would most likely receive a cash settlement and then held to an NDA or nondisclosure agreement. That was the case with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, who was a former Playboy model.
That payment has been called into question—in the belief it could have violated campaign finance laws. This was looked into by federal prosecutors and the Federal Election Commission, which both passed on prosecuting due to lack of evidence or because it exceeded the statues of limitation.
The District Attorney of New York City, Alvin Braggs Jr., took a different approach. In his presentation to a grand jury, Braggs upgraded some of the alleged misdemeanor charges against Trump into felonies, when 50% of the felony cases in his city are downgraded to misdemeanors. This case doesn’t look like it’s about justice as much as it is about politics.
None of this is good for the country, and screams of political slander, malicious prosecution and gives the people of this country a reason to doubt the fairness of the judicial system.
As Andrew McCarthy of National Review said, “If reports are to be believed, it is not merely an unworthy exercise of prosecutorial discretion. It is one that will threaten the legitimacy of the justice system — on the public acceptance of which the rule of law hinges.
“… Even if that were all Bragg had done, it would be a disgrace — not because records falsification is not a crime (it is), but because Bragg would not have brought it against any defendant not named Donald Trump.
“Bragg is an unabashed progressive prosecutor whose overarching approach to his job is to minimize resort to criminal prosecution for the resolution of offenses. With defendants who commit serious crimes, Bragg’s practice is to use his charging authority to avoid accusing them of offenses that would require incarceration sentences, and to minimize the number of offenders who are in state custody.
“In Trump’s case, though, out of blatant partisanship, Bragg is indicting on a trifling offense that he would never otherwise charge in order to taint the Democrats’ archnemesis as a criminal.”
This case, which McCarthy states amounts to “bookkeeping shenanigans that Bragg would ordinarily not give the time of day,” isn’t about justice.
From big techs blatant interference and suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story in the 2020 election to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State that could have compromised national security, there are perhaps liberals who should also face legal scrutiny in an actual courtroom, but they won’t.
When the criminal justice system has been weaponized against members of a particular political party, the future of the country and the rule of law is questionable. This was not what our forefathers intended.
Many believe that January 6 will become a powerful and defining date in American history, and there’s no doubt that it will, but this moment could be equally important. This indictment reflects a deeply broken justice system that has been weaponized by those in power to prosecute political rivals, while allowing criminals to rule the streets.