- THE WESTERN JOURNAL - C. Douglas Golden - APRIL 6, 2023 -
In 2022, it was reported that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had downgraded over 50 percent of felonies in his jurisdiction to misdemeanors, despite New York City’s spiking crime rate.
On Tuesday, the public learned he had finally found 34 misdemeanors he was willing to upgrade to felonies.
Conveniently, they just happened to be allegations against former President Donald Trump, and flimsy ones at that, based on non-disclosure payments made during the 2016 campaign. But you’ve gotta start somewhere.
Unfortunately for Bragg, Democratic and independent voters that Fox News talked to weren’t impressed, with one calling him the “worst prosecutor in America” to make the case against the former president.
Bragg has defended his decision to elevate the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree — normally a misdemeanor for which the two-year statute of limitations has long passed — to felonies because they were meant to conceal another crime. However, that alleged crime involved federal campaign finance law, something Bragg has no jurisdiction over and a case the Department of Justice has already decided to pass on.
“Under New York state law is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime. That is exactly what this case is about. Thirty-four false statements made to cover up other crimes,” Bragg said after the indictment was unsealed on Tuesday, according to Fox News.