Manhattan DA Bragg 'between a rock and a hard place' amid grand jury wait - legal analyst

Record ID: 1717394

  • Title: Manhattan DA Bragg 'between a rock and a hard place' amid grand jury wait - legal analyst
  • Date: 27th March 2023
  • Summary: NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES (RECENT -  MARCH 4, 2023) (REUTERS) TRUMP SEEN ON LARGE SCREEN DURING CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL ACTION CONFERENCE; TRUMP ON STAGE
  • Embargoed: 10th April 2023 20:15
  • Keywords: Cheryl Bader Fordham Stormy Daniels Trump hush money
  • Location: VARIOUS
  • City: VARIOUS
  • Country: US
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions,North America
  • Reuters ID: LVA004067227032023RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A Manhattan grand jury was busy reportedly reconvening to hear evidence about former President Donald Trump's role in a hush-money payment scheme Monday (March 27).
    But no matter the outcome, Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg is stuck "between a rock and a hard place' with all the eyes of the nation watching him," said Cheryl Bader of Fordham University Law School.
    "On the one hand, he could end up pulling the indictment, but then everybody will be critical of, 'well why did he put everyone through this?'" posed Bader. "I think we'll probably end up with an indictment. But again, that puts Bragg with a lot of criticism as to whether he is pursuing a risky case that could end up imploding. The judge may end up dismissing the case. There are statute limitation issues here. There are issues around preemption of federal law. And he also has a witness who's a flawed witness in Michael Cohen."
    The grand jury, which has been meeting since January, could indict Trump over the handling of the payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, making him the first U.S. president to face a criminal charge in court.
    Bragg has been presenting evidence about the $130,000 payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the final weeks of Trump's 2016 election campaign. Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen has said he made the payment at Trump's direction to buy her silence about a sexual liaison she says she had with Trump in 2006.
    Trump has denied an affair took place, and lawyer Robert Costello, who met with Cohen in 2018, has said Cohen told him he acted alone in making the payment.
    Costello testified before the grand jury last week. Cohen, who testified the previous week, pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges stemming from the payoff and went to prison for the campaign finance violation, among other crimes.
    Bader expects jurors will be unsympathetic.
    "Jurors often aren't moved by a case that feels like a technical accounting violation and it's really about covering up a personal indiscretion. It may feel like old news, right? We know this guy's had affairs. We know this guy has paid hush money. And it may be something that this that the jury doesn't really care about."
    Trump falsely claimed on March 18 that he would be arrested in the case last Tuesday. Since then Trump has warned of potential "death and destruction" if he faces criminal charges, repeatedly attacked Bragg, and posted a picture of himself holding a baseball bat, next to a photo of the New York prosecutor, that was later deleted.
    "This conduct goes beyond the pale, even for Trump," said Bader. "he's not saying, 'let's go out and have a game of catch.' So everyone has the right to free speech. But that's not an absolute right. And here this could actually be criminally charged as either aggravated harassment, menacing, inciting a riot, which we've seen Trump do in the past."
    Trump faces several other criminal investigations, including one tied to the Jan. 6th assault on the U.S. Capitol. He is mounting a comeback bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
    (Production by: Andrew Hofstetter and Dan Fastenberg)
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