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Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul is teeing off on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over the indictment of former President Donald Trump, declaring that Bragg could be forced out of office and into court himself.
“Wonder if DA Bragg remembers Durham DA Mike Nifong who withheld exculpatory DNA tests on the Duke lacrosse players. He was subsequently forced out of office, disbarred, and convicted of contempt of court,” Paul said, referring to Nifong, the district attorney in the 2006 case accusing Duke University lacrosse players of rape. The three players were exonerated and Nifong even spent one day in jail.
“A Trump indictment would be a disgusting abuse of power. The DA should be put in jail,” Paul said in a separate statement just before news late last week about the indictment.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared that Congress will take action after former President Donald Trump appeared in Manhattan on Tuesday for his arraignment in the case brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 charges regarding allegations that he falsified business records related to adult film star Stormy Daniels’ hush-money case. Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in a case involving his purported role in hush money payments to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, allegedly to keep Daniels quiet about an affair the two of them had in 2006.
“Alvin Bragg is attempting to interfere in our democratic process by invoking federal law to bring politicized charges against President Trump, admittedly using federal funds, while at the same time arguing that the peoples’ representatives in Congress lack jurisdiction to investigate this farce. Not so. Bragg’s weaponization of the federal justice process will be held accountable by Congress,” McCarthy tweeted.
In late March, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene indicated in a tweet that was “exculpatory evidence,” which proves that Bragg has no case. She also said he should now be indicted for improperly pursuing an investigation.
“Now it’s time to arrest Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for prosecutorial misconduct after hiding hundreds of pages of exculpatory evidence!” she wrote. “Bragg is on the verge of indicting an innocent former President and top Presidential candidate against the opposing ruling party. Bragg is breaking the law and trying to incite civil unrest with his Soros-funded political war. Hold him accountable!”
Now it’s time to arrest Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for prosecutorial misconduct after hiding hundreds of pages of exculpatory evidence!
Bragg is on the verge of indicting an innocent former President and top Presidential candidate against the opposing ruling party.
Bragg is…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 22, 2023
Bragg’s case against Trump is so weak that even CNN’s Paula Reid said the indictment “appears to be built on a pretty shaky foundation.”
“I’ve read through this indictment, Anderson, and he is being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. These are being charged, though as a felony. And in order to charge these as a felony in New York State, you have to prove that these records were falsified in furtherance of another crime, and it is not clear exactly what that larger crime is, because it’s not charged here,” she began.
“Now, if prosecutors want to argue that these documents were falsified, and we’re talking specifically, about the way Michael Cohen was reimbursed for the hush money that he paid to Stormy Daniels, if they want to argue that those documents were falsified in furtherance of something that is a Federal election law violation, that is shaky legal ground. I mean, that is an untested legal theory. It’s not clear that that would ultimately be successful. At a press conference, the District Attorney suggested that this might be a violation of State election law, but that’s not in the indictment or the statement of facts. So at this point, look, this is one of the most historic cases, arguably, the most significant case right now in an American court system. It appears to be built on a pretty shaky foundation because it is not clear what the larger crime is,” she said.
She continued: “And look, I’ve passed two Bar exams. I’m having a little trouble following Alvin Bragg’s argument here. So, it’s unclear if the average Manhattan juror will be able to follow it as well. And even if they can, even if they get a conviction, it still has to survive appeals, which is going to be difficult for cases built on novel legal theories.”
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