(NewsInsights.org) – The New York State Appellate Court has rejected defense motions asking for stays of the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump. Two different associate justices green-lighted the case to proceed as scheduled on Monday, April 15. Yet, despite recent rulings, some legal pundits and commentators have noted just how rarely the New York District Attorney (NYDA) has ever pursued the same felony charges it leveled against Trump. Some are asking whether DA Alvin Bragg is pursuing a political vendetta.
On Tuesday, The New York Times conducted a deep dive into Bragg’s life and career leading up to his position as district attorney and prosecutor on the Trump hush money case. The article thoroughly covered Bragg’s biographical details. Yet it also noted that Times reporters’ extensive research into NYDA records over the past decade uncovered only two other felony cases of falsifying business records, the primary charge against Trump.
Typically, authorities charge the infraction as a misdemeanor. However, Bragg justified filing the indictment as felony counts because he argued that Trump altered business records in support and furtherance of another crime. However, the DA didn’t specify the alleged underlying crime in the indictment or press additional charges against the former president.
Instead, the indictment alleged Trump’s “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime” as justification for charging the former president with felonies. Still, in March, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that the NYDA presented the grand jury with “legally sufficient evidence” that the accused had intended to defraud voters and the government by falsifying business records.
His ruling came in response to Trump’s motion alleging that Bragg had targetted him in violation of US and New York Constitutional Equal Protection Clauses. The presumptive GOP 2024 presidential nominee claimed the NYDA’s selective prosecution constituted election interference.
To that point, The New York Times article pointed out that Bragg had campaigned for the District Attorney position based on his ability to prosecute Trump. Additionally, critics alleged that Bragg received political support and substantial campaign donations because he said he would hold the former president accountable for any criminal activity.
Some pundits are calling Bragg’s pursuit of Trump a vendetta because he used obscure charges in the hush money case to fulfill those campaign promises.
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