Trump: “I can win New York in 2024”
Former President Trump speaks before court about slowing stock market, presidential immunity and setting his sights on victory in New York.
Exclusive: The House Judiciary Committee alleges in a report Thursday that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office “allowed political motives and animus to influence prosecutorial discretion” and that the indictment against former President Trump was directed at prosecuting “political opponents.” He said he had adopted a “dangerously low standard” to do so.
The Republican-led committee on Thursday released a 300-page report titled “Anatomy of a Political Prosecution: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Revenge Against President Donald J. Trump,” which was obtained exclusively by FOX News Digital.
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The committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has filed an “unprecedented” multiple charge against Trump led by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office since last year, when current prosecutor Alvin Bragg indicted Trump. The investigation has been going on for years.
Mr. Bragg indicted Mr. Trump on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records related to alleged hush-money payments made before the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Trump has maintained his innocence. His criminal trial is currently underway in New York City.
Former President Donald Trump faces criminal trial in Manhattan courtroom (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, pool)
“DANY has been investigating President Trump since at least 2018 and is looking for legal theories on which to base charges,” the report states. “These charges are typically misdemeanors with a two-year statute of limitations, but Mr. Bragg has used a novel and untested legal theory, previously rejected by federal prosecutors, to turn misdemeanor charges into felonies. “The statute of limitations for prosecution was extended to five years,” the lawsuit alleges that records were falsified to cover up the second crime. ”
Prosecutors said in a criminal trial this week that the alleged “secondary crime” is a violation of New York state law called “conspiracy to promote or obstruct an election.” Prosecutors aim to prove that this was done to cover up a conspiracy to unfairly promote candidacy.
“The core facts of Mr. Bragg’s political prosecution have not changed since 2018, and no new witnesses have come forward between then and the date of Mr. Bragg’s indictment,” the report said. “The Department of Justice investigated the facts in 2019 and chose not to prosecute.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
But the report notes that despite the Justice Department’s decision, Mr. Bragg “convened a new grand jury in January.” [2023] This is to evaluate the problem. ”
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“Mr. Bragg ultimately settled on a novel legal theory that had not been tested anywhere in the country and that federal authorities refused to revisit,” the report said.
“The only intervening factor appears to be President Trump’s announcement that he will be a presidential candidate in 2024,” the Republican added.
The report states that Congress should “prevent politically motivated prosecutions of current and former presidents by elected state and local prosecutors, especially in jurisdictions like New York County where prosecutors are publicly elected and at the court level.” “There is clearly a significant interest in doing so.” Judges do not have a lifetime term. ”
U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan holds a press conference at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Mr. Bragg’s decision to file charges after Mr. Trump became a presidential candidate led to the committee’s decision to reform the law to protect current and former presidents from such politically motivated state and local prosecutions. It was necessary to consider the possibility of
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Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz testified in a deposition before the committee as part of the investigation. Mr. Pomerantz refused to answer most questions, largely due to the then-pending investigation into Mr. Trump, he told the committee.
Pomerantz, a donor to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, previously worked on the Trump investigation with former prosecutor Carrie Dunn under Bragg’s predecessor, former Manhattan prosecutor Cyrus Vance. It was. Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunn resigned after Mr. Bragg became president and questioned whether he would proceed with the case against Mr. Trump.
After leaving office, Pomerantz wrote a tell-all book based on the ongoing investigation. The book apparently alleges Trump’s accusations.
Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz testifies about Trump investigation (William B. Plowman/NBC via Getty Images)
The committee cited Pomerantz’s book, which it said revealed “a personal and political animosity toward Mr. Trump.”
Pomerantz described his “enthusiasm for working on the investigation” in his book, but said it had “nothing to do with the investigation.” [his] However, he admitted that he was “not a fan” of Trump and gave him “little consideration.”
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Chairman Jim Jordan told Fox News Digital on Thursday that Pomerantz “retired to pursue his passion project of prosecuting President Trump.”
“He was eyeing every possible way to bring down the president. When nothing worked, he left Alvin Bragg’s office in disgust and demanded that Bragg be charged with some crime. I wrote the book to apply public pressure, and it worked,” Jordan said. “The whole trial is completely political and everyone knows that.”
The commission said Mr. Bragg’s tenure as district attorney contributed to the rise in crime in New York City.
“District Attorney Bragg’s decision to find cause to prosecute President Trump is based on his actions to promote pro-crime, anti-victim policies that have led to an increase in violent crime and created a dangerous community for New York City residents. There is.”
Mr. Bragg issued an early memo instructing assistant prosecutors to avoid prosecuting certain crimes, such as trespassing and prostitution.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and District Attorney Alvin Bragg ((AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews))
The memo said armed robbery should not be prosecuted as a felony. Instead, the new prosecutor’s office directed that armed robberies be considered misdemeanor theft unless someone is shot during the robbery. Bragg also said his office would not seek prison terms, except for particularly “heinous crimes” such as murder, felony domestic violence, sex crimes and public corruption.
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The committee said Bragg’s indictment of Trump “opens up dangerous new possibilities for politically motivated prosecutions or the threat of prosecutions of political opponents, including the president.”
“This case establishes a dangerously low threshold for initiating these investigations and prosecutions,” the report said, adding that Mr. Bragg “would be widely perceived as a former president or It opens the door to future prosecutions against current candidates.” My motivation has increased. ”
Republicans on the committee said Bragg inspired other prosecutors to pursue “politically motivated investigations and prosecutions of President Trump.”
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Former President Donald Trump attends the first day of his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024 in New York City. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP Pool)
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“The fundamental mission of the prosecutor’s office is to uphold the rule of law,” the report states. “And one of the hallmarks of this mission is to ensure that justice is blind, that is, applied fairly and equally. Mr. Bragg’s politically motivated indictment of President Trump is “Using the judicial system to attack individuals who disagree with one’s views threatens to destroy this blind concept of justice” politically and, by extension, undermine the trust of the American public. ”
Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
