A New York grand jury has indicted former president Donald Trump over alleged ‘hush money’ payments to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress. The jury was empaneled by Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, a man on a mission. His mission is simple. Get Trump. On anything.
He had to do it with the thinnest of evidence, the weakest of legal theories. He focused on a misdemeanour for which the statute of limitations has expired. Using a novel legal theory, he wants to tie that misdemeanour to other alleged crimes and package them all as a felony. The case, he knows, will be tried before a Manhattan jury that hates Trump as much as he does.
That’s not how our justice system is supposed to work. Prosecutors are not supposed to begin with the target and then look for a crime. How do we know Bragg did that? Because his path to get Trump was so strained and circuitous.
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