Regardless of how the jury rules in former President Donald Trump’s New York City felony bookkeeping case, any assertion that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution is apolitical was debunked Tuesday when President Joe Biden’s campaign held an event on the courthouse steps.
“First of all, let me say this,” Biden spokesman Michael Tyler declared, speaking over the taunts of Trump supporters. “First and foremost, we are not here today because of what is going on over there,” Tyler said, gesturing toward the courthouse. “We are here today because you all are here,” he added, pointing to the gathered press.
Yet, the press presence was solely due to the Trump trial spectacle, a trial the Biden White House has gleefully acknowledged with sarcastic comments about Trump’s courtroom appearances. Tyler then heightened the farcical nature of the event by introducing a masked Robert De Niro, who asserted Trump “wants to destroy not only this city, but the country, and eventually, he could destroy the world.”
The absurdity of Biden’s courthouse press conference has been paralleled by Bragg’s flimsy arguments in court. Trump faces charges of falsifying business records by directing his accountants to classify payments to lawyer Michael Cohen as legal expenses rather than otherwise. The prosecution has not, however, provided clarity on what a correct description of the payments would have been.
Bragg claims Trump paid Cohen to reimburse him for payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged affair. However, paying for someone’s silence about infidelity is not a crime, and Trump paid Cohen significantly more than what was given to Daniels.
Falsifying business records is a misdemeanor with a statute of limitations that expired years ago. Bragg circumvented this limitation by alleging that Trump falsified the records to facilitate another crime. Yet, Bragg did not charge Trump with this underlying crime and told the court he isn’t required to specify it. He has argued that the jury should infer any “unlawful” intent Trump might have had. It doesn’t need to be criminal; Bragg contends even a civil infraction (such as jaywalking) would suffice.
It is incredibly Kafkaesque that Trump stands trial for an unspecified, unnamed crime. The partisan Democratic judge overseeing the trial, who has donated to Biden’s campaign, barred Trump from discussing Bragg or Cohen, who not only testified against him but has also openly attacked Trump politically.
Bragg won his election as Manhattan district attorney on the partisan promise to prosecute Trump. From the start, it has been evident that his prosecution was less about protecting New Yorkers from false business records and more about aiding Biden’s reelection.
Biden’s administration maintained distance from Bragg’s prosecution for months to appear impartial. However, his decision to deploy campaign officials to the trial this week dispels that illusion. It is now evident that Democrats are willing to use any means, even manipulating the criminal justice system, to prevent Trump’s reelection. If there is a threat to democracy in this election, it originates from the current White House occupant, not the former.
