Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday night praised New York’s “phenomenal” justice system, saying former President Donald Trump did his “job” after being convicted of allegedly falsifying business documents.
Judge Bragg appeared at a press conference Thursday evening after a 12-juror New York jury returned a verdict finding Trump guilty of all 34 felony counts. After praising the jury and the swift verdict, Judge Bragg took questions from reporters, one of whom asked how the left-leaning district attorney, who had received “criticism” before the trial, felt about the outcome. (Related story: Left-wing district attorney, Biden Justice Department alum secures Trump conviction in Biden donor blue district court)
“I did my job,” Bragg said. “Our job is to follow the facts and the law without fear or prejudice, and that’s exactly what we did here. I just feel grateful to work alongside incredible public servants who do that every day on the issues that you write about and report on, and many issues that you don’t write about. I did my job. We did our job. There are many voices out there. The only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury spoke.”
The second reporter focused on Joshua Steinglass, Bragg’s fellow lawyer, who was making the prosecution’s closing argument, and asked him how he felt at the moment.
“I just want to express my gratitude,” Bragg responded. “We have a system — I talked about the jury at the beginning — we have a great system. 12 New Yorkers listened to the judge’s instructions and followed the evidence. You saw them in the courtroom every day. They were attentive and attentive. So I’m deeply grateful to be a part of this system with them. And I want to reiterate that this is what we do every day.”
“So, all of the work throughout this trial, just this week alone, including the ghost gun prosecution, the plea deal settlement on Grimaldi’s wage theft charges, the sex crimes and the guilty verdict, has been done by incredible public servants,” he continued. “So while we stand before you today on this obviously significant issue, this is something we do every day. We follow the facts and the law without fear or favoritism.”
Trump was found guilty after a 12-person jury’s second day of verdicts. During the trial, Trump’s former lawyer and confessed liar Michael Cohen took the stand to testify against the former president, alleging that Trump directed secret payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels and agreed to repay the scheme through falsified business records. Bragg’s lawyers further allegedly linked the records to 2016 election interference.
Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
