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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   23789 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of June 17, 2024

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I think what’s missing here is the background. The background is that a DA is supposed to prosecute crimes not persons. Bragg ran on prosecuting Trump (ie the person).

And then to get Trump, Bragg used a NY state law that hasn’t been used in god knows how long coupled with a very dubious theory of a questionable FECA violation as a predicate of the rarely used NYS law. Keep in mind the people with authority to prosecute FECA violations passed on this (both criminally and civilly). The prior DA passed. That should tell us something! It tells us about selective prosecution and show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.

And then to get Trump, Bragg used a NY state law that hasn’t been used in god knows how long coupled with a very dubious theory of a questionable FECA violation as a predicate of the rarely used NYS law. Keep in mind the people with authority to prosecute FECA violations passed on this (both criminally and civilly). The prior DA passed. That should tell us something! It tells us about selective prosecution and show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.

AND, they had to first corner Cohen on other charges into accepting a plea deal in order to "establish" that a (uncharged, untried, undefended) crime had taken place which could then be used as the basis for charging Trump in such a convoluted manner.

He didn't run on prosecuting Trump in the sense (as I have seen implied in some conservative outlets) that he made it a campaign promise. He ran on prosecuting Trump in the sense that he cited his participation in the AG investigation. In other words, he ran on his record, which is something every AG candidate does, especially when they were involved in a high profile case.

Here is one example

“Let’s talk about what’s waiting for the new DA. The docket. We know there’s a Trump investigation. I have investigated Trump and his children and held them accountable for their misconduct with the Trump Foundation. I also sued the Trump administration more than 100 times for (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the travel ban, separation of children from their families at the border. So I know that work. I know how to follow the facts and hold people in power accountable."

Sure he talked about what he did but the clear implication that he would follow through on prosecuting Trump.

Bragg: "I’m the candidate in the race who has the experience with Donald Trump. I was the chief deputy in the attorney general’s office. We sued the Trump administration over 100 times, for the Muslim travel ban, for family separation at the border, for shenanigans with the census. So, I know how to litigate with him. I also led the team that did the Trump Foundation case. So, I’m ready to go wherever the facts take me, and to inherit that case. And I think it’d be hard to argue with the fact that that’d be the most important, most high-profile case, and I’ve seen him up front and seen the lawlessness that he could do."

Rosenberg: "And you believe it should happen?"

Bragg: "I believe we have to hold him accountable. I haven’t seen all the facts beyond the public, but I’ve litigated with him and so I’m prepared to go where the facts take me once I see them, and hold him accountable.

There's a fig leaf, but it's an embarrassingly narrow one.

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