Several former prosecutors said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump faces major hurdles, coming more than a week after his unprecedented arraignment at a Manhattan courthouse.
Since his arrest, a number of legal experts have publicly said that if the case didn’t involve Trump, charges likely wouldn’t have been brought.
“If it wasn’t Donald Trump, no prosecutor in the world would have touched this,” former Manhattan assistant district attorney Daniel Bibb told Fox News. “If you and I did what Trump did, we never would have been charged.”
And former Manhattan prosecutor-turned-criminal defense lawyer Mark Bederow said that “if you bring an unprecedented case like this against a former president and current presidential candidate, it’s essential for the credibility of the criminal justice system to present a clear and cogent explanation of your theory as opposed to saying I don’t have to tell you.”
Bederow noted that Bragg’s office will have to call in former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who spent several years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to a range of charges, to testify against Trump. It would be easy to call Cohen’s credibility into question—based on his prior convictions.
“If Michael Cohen told you today was Wednesday would you believe that unless you looked at your own calendar?” he said.
Prosecutors, he added, would also have to call in Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, to the stand to testify. The lawyer noted that Daniels, who recently was ordered by a court last week to pay Trump legal fees, has made contradictory statements about the payments.
During a news conference after Trump’s arraignment, Bragg’s office said that Trump falsified business records—normally a misdemeanor—but those charges were raised to the level of a felony. It alleged that the former commander-in-chief was trying to conceal a second crime, which Bragg did not disclose.
Bragg said that he is legally not required to disclose the second alleged offense. The indictment against Trump also does not say what the crime is, which legal experts say could be problematic.
