OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is facing some legal trouble himself following his decision to indict former President Donald Trump in March. Bragg is facing a pair of lawsuits related to his filing of charges against Trump, accusing him of illegalities involving a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election facilitated by his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen.
Trump is charged with 34 counts that include allegations of falsifying business records to hide the payment.
Fox News notes: “The Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank, has sued Bragg under suspicions that he and his office coordinated or communicated with the Justice Department, the White House, and Rep. Daniel Goldman, D-N.Y., about the prosecution. In its lawsuit, Heritage claims that such actions eventually led to investigations by several U.S. House committees into Bragg’s conduct.”
“Regrettably, these questions have not been met with answers. These reports have raised concerns in many circles based in large part upon the longstanding history of President Trump’s political opponents coordinating their activities to systematically weaponize the criminal justice system against him and thereby pervert the course of Justice,” says a filing for the first lawsuit.
Heritage has filed a separate lawsuit claiming that Bragg and his team engaged the services of prominent law firms specializing in white-collar litigation, pro bono. In the lawsuit, Heritage is seeking a court declaration that the requested documents fall under the purview of the New York Freedom of Information Law and should be released. The organization is also requesting that Bragg and his team provide the requested documents and be prohibited from seeking costs and fees related to the specific request mentioned in the case.
Mike Howell, director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, the group’s government watchdog division, said the organization believes Bragg was “coordinating, or otherwise communicating” with Trump’s political opponents and that “there’s reason to believe Bragg was a prolific communicator” via cellphone.
“The fact we have to file a lawsuit against Bragg who says he can’t produce these records and says he doesn’t have the systems to do so, is proof-positive of another dual standard of justice at play in this country,” Howell told Fox News Digital.
“You have a weaponized actor who’s going after the former president on a loony theory about his document retention, whereas the DA can’t even keep his own documents, and it’s in violation of the information laws he is bound by,” he added.
“He’s a hypocrite. He’s wasting an exorbitant amount of New York’s taxpayer’s dollars to defend this now and delay it and obstruct it when he could’ve just turned it over,” he noted further.
Earlier this month, famed Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz heaped praise on Trump for using a legal maneuver in his battle with Bragg.
Dershowitz is arguing that Team Trump filing a $500 million lawsuit against Cohen was the perfect strategy because he believes it’ll help his case and hurt Bragg. Cohen testified before the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump.
“Good move. Good move. First of all, lawyers should not be violating lawyer-client privilege, number one. Number two, he gets a discovery if he survives a motion to dismiss, and he is going to be able to find out things the government wouldn’t turn over to him in a criminal trial. So I think it’s a very smart move,” Dershowitz said.
“It’s very hard these days to hide things forever. With the internet, with social media, if you get the right people, you can get things that people think they have hidden. So, I’m glad we are going to get to the bottom of this. Look transparency is essential. If people have nothing to hide, they shouldn’t be worried,” he added.
