Donald Trump has consistently called the Manhattan criminal case against him a “rigged” politically motivated witch hunt.
Donald Trump has consistently called the Manhattan criminal case against him a “rigged” politically motivated witch hunt — including from the courthouse hallway after a jury convicted him of 34 felonies Thursday.
His claims have included:Blaming President Biden
The trial unfolded in blue-leaning Manhattan, where roughly 85% of voters picked Biden over Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
But Trump has continued to label his case a “Biden trial.”
“This was done by the Biden Administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent,” he said in a statement following his conviction.
Part of Trump’s argument here appears to be that one of the prosecutors on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is a former high-ranking Justice Department official under Biden.
That prosecutor, Matthew Colangelo, also worked with Bragg, a Democrat, on Trump-related cases earlier in his career at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, and the two men knew each other before Colangelo ever worked at DOJ.
Bragg also brought the case after his predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., declined to, which critics said pointed to a political — rather than legal — decision.
The Manhattan district attorney is a state official who does not answer to the president.
