In case you haven’t been following the trial of Mr. Trump for falsification of business records to conceal an affair that might have damaged his 2016 campaign beyond redemption, OR if you have been following the sliming of the prosecutor who now gets to put Trump’s ears on his mantlepiece, but have forgotten his name – forgetful of you – the prosecutor’s name is Alvin Bragg, and Colbert King has a schadenfreude-filled, and unexpectedly satisfying, column condemning the commentariat’s (his word, not mine) criticisms of DA Bragg:
Here is some of what I found helpful to keep in mind as the case played out: That Bragg, born and raised in Harlem, attended Trinity, an elite private school on New York City’s West Side, before going on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a juris doctor degree from Harvard Law.
That Bragg possessed copious skills and experience with public corruption and white-collar crime. That Bragg, as Manhattan district attorney, had secured the conviction of Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization chief financial officer, on 15 felony counts. That he had won a six-count indictment against Trump’s former strategist Stephen K. Bannon on money laundering and conspiracy charges in a case that has yet to go to trial. And that with the New York State attorney general’s office, Bragg oversaw the investigation against the Trump Foundation that was dissolved by court order to resolve claims of misuse of charitable funds. [WaPo]
Honest estimations by the commentariat? Or politics-driven twisted faux-judgments? A bunch of righteously arrogant amateurs who probably would have hated on the trial that stuck Capone in jail, finally? Certainly, catching Mr Trump for falsifying business records to conceal an affair is unglamorous. Charges less devious were preferred by minds that might be a little simple for the complex worlds of taxes and federal election finance laws.
But the charges worked, and the jury hardly even seemed to need a long discussion.
Don’t be surprised to hear of Bragg moving up, if he so wishes. And Trump’s appeals may come to nothing, if Bragg has planned properly for them.
And King’s column is tasty for those of us who detested the occasional sniping at Mr. Bragg.
