OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A new witness testified on Monday before the Manhattan, New York, the grand jury that is investigating former President Donald Trump.
The witness is David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer.
“Pecker was a key player in the $150,000 “catch-and-kill” payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, in which the Enquirer bought the publishing rights to her claim that she — like Daniels — had an affair with Trump before he became president. The Enquirer never reported McDougal’s allegations but its parent company, American Media Inc., featured her in other publications. Trump has denied having sex with either woman and has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the payments to them,” according to the New York Post.
Manhattan District Attorney Bragg responded last week to a potential indictment and arrest of former President Donald Trump. Bragg issued a vague statement that did not actually provide any information about what might happen next.
Bragg sent a letter to members of the House Judiciary Committee after they sent their own letter “demanding communications, documents, and testimony relating to Bragg’s unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority and the potential indictment of former President Donald Trump.”
In his letter, the Manhattan DA said his office will “publicly state the conclusion of our investigation—whether we conduct our work without bringing charges, or move forward with an indictment.”
Bragg also addressed the letter the House Judiciary Committee previously sent to his office and said, “Your letter dated March 20, 2023, (the ‘Letter’), in contrast, is an unprecedented inquiry into a pending local prosecution. The letter only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for a congressional inquiry.”
The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence in the criminal investigation into Trump has taken many turns in the last week.
The case involves Trump’s alleged role in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, allegedly to keep Daniels quiet about an affair the two of them had in 2006.
A new report from The Daily Mail reveals there’s speculation that prosecutors have hit problems in building their case.
“They are having trouble convincing the jury to swallow the case. It’s a weak case and has caused divisions in the DA’s office,” a source allegedly told the Daily Mail.
“Other reports suggested the DA’s office could be contemplating a change of strategy. The grand jury meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but postponements are not unusual and jurors are warned to expect last-minute changes. Either way, it leaves the nation with a cliffhanger,” the Daily Mail reported.
Trump’s 2024 campaign has brought in a whopping $1.5 million in grassroots contributions since he posted online that he could be arrested by the Manhattan district attorney.
A law enforcement source told Fox News Monday that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement discussed extra police and barriers and the logistics of closing down streets.
Bragg is also reportedly against allowing for a “virtual arraignment” of Trump, which means he would have to appear in New York.
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also called for Bragg to be arrested.
“He (Bragg) should be arrested. You want to know why? We have to stop allowing Democrats to abuse us. It’s like we are a beaten spouse. We need to stand up to the abuse because they are the ones committing crimes,” Greene said at a rally for President Donald Trump, adding that Trump is “the most innocent man in the history of our country.”
Alan Dershowitz, one of the most famous attorneys and legal experts in the nation, believes that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg may have ended his own career.
The former Harvard Law professor appeared on the Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures” and explained to his Maria Bartiromo what Bragg did that could cause him to be disbarred, Mediaite reported.
“I don’t think an indictment can actually come forward now after the comments made by [Robert] Costello,” the attorney said.
He said that “he has proved that the main witness is going to be a perjuring liar on the witness stand, and that puts the district attorney in a terrible position.”
“If he uses Cohen as a witness, he could actually lose his bar license. It’s unethical to put a witness on the stand who you know is lying, and he has to know that Cohen will be lying. Or he tries the case without Cohen, which would be very difficult, or he does the right thing: he drops the case,” he said.
And he is not the only legal expert who thinks Bragg has made a mistake.
Former Democrat New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was the former district attorney for the state of New York, has eviscerated Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump as all about politics.
“I don’t understand why Bragg is putting such emphasis on this case,” he said to WABC Radio on Friday.
“A person breaks the law I get it, but on the state side this is a misdemeanor case. It’s really a federal case because he needs it to be a campaign finance fraud case which is a federal case and that’s what Bragg is going to have to do to get a felony out of this,” he said.
The former governor said that people are generally “cynical” and “when they see prosecutors bringing these political cases” it just “affirms everybody’s cynicism.”
“I think it’s all politics and that’s what I think the people of this country are saying,” he said. “It just feeds that anger and that cynicism and the partisanship. It’s a coincidence that Bragg goes after Trump and Tish James goes after Trump and Georgia goes after Trump? That’s all a coincidence? I think it feeds the cynicism and that’s the cancer in our body politic right now.”
