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No, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump is not about the rule of law or holding the powerful to account. It is about Bragg putting himself at the front of a very crowded line to run for mayor or U.S. Senate in New York.
That’s not to say Trump is not guilty. Trump is constantly putting himself in compromising positions and exacerbating them with his undisciplined rantings. Trump’s best defense might be mental incapacity — how do you argue against that?
However, this case, and especially its timing, has all the markings of an ambitious politician seizing an opportunity to position himself for higher office. Not only is the case considered dubious even by left-leaning media outlets, but also his predecessors in the New York County DA’s office declined to prosecute.
Like anything in politics, only fools believe what politicians say. To understand true motivation, you have to look at their actions and circumstances, then piece together a logical explanation. On the surface, the Bragg indictment makes little sense. In a city with high crime, a local district attorney is diverting significant resources to prosecute a six-year-old nonviolent alleged crime over which his jurisdictional authority is questionable. In addition, there are other active investigations against the former president that seem to be much stronger than Bragg’s raggedy charges.
So, why did Bragg move to indict and do it so quickly?
If his prime motivation is to move up in the world of New York politics, it all makes sense. In the Lord of the Flies competitive world of New York, the Manhattan DA is just one in a crowd of ambitious politicians. Not since Thomas Dewey in 1942 has the Manhattan DA moved to higher office. In order to move up, Bragg is going to have to make a real splash – and The Mob just ain’t what it used to be.
Arresting and charging Trump is a slam dunk politically in a place (Manhattan) where Trump lost to President Joe Biden 86.
