Garrett Haake, a Capitol Hill journalist for NBC News, approached Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg about the indictment against former President Donald Trump and questioned why federal prosecutors and Bragg’s predecessor had decided not to pursue these charges.
The former president was charged with a 34-count indictment on Tuesday, according to which he is accused of ordering hush money payments to conceal three embarrassing incidents: two involving alleged extramarital affairs and one involving an alleged child born out of wedlock. The allegations against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen are detailed in the indictment and statement of facts. Cohen is accused of orchestrating the payments as part of a “catch and kill” plan to stop the articles from being released prior to the 2016 election. For his part in the scam, Cohen pleaded guilty and was sentenced to time in prison. Since then, Cohen has turned on Trump and has publicly criticized him and given false testimony against him in House hearings and grand jury proceedings.
Trump entered a not guilty plea to each of the 34 counts after being processed and given the charges against him. After arriving back at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, he is anticipated to make a public statement.
Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who succeeded Bragg, reportedly looked into Trump for similar potential offenses but decided not to press charges before leaving office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York asked Vance to “stand down” on their investigation into the Trump Organization, he revealed in an interview with Meet The Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday. Todd advised his viewers to “be patient and wait” until the indictment was made public.
Tuesday afternoon, following Trump’s arraignment and the publication of the indictment, Bragg gave a brief interview before taking questions from the media. One reporter inquired about earlier remarks Bragg made when he was still the district attorney and raised doubts about the case.
In response, he stated that the investigation “was not finished” at the time he made those remarks and that “since then, we’ve had more information made available to the office and an opportunity to meet with other witnesses.”
Bragg stressed, “Like I stated earlier, I’ve been doing this for 24 years. “I don’t bring matters before conducting an exhaustive and careful inquiry. The case has now been filed as a result.
After making an introduction, Haake questioned Bragg about Vance and the federal prosecutors’ decision not to press charges.
“Do you believe you have new evidence that led to you to decide to charge this, or why now?” was the question posed to the prosecutor. “Your predecessor took a hard look at this case and decided not to charge it. Federal prosecutors took a hard look at this case and decided not to charge it. enquired Haake.
In response, Bragg said, “As I just indicated, we’ve had more evidence available to the office that was not in the office’s possession prior to my time here.
Because New York State was “the business capital of the world,” according to Bragg, there was a “distinct and strong, I would say profound, independent interest in New York State” with regard to federal concerns.
He continued, “We frequently handle situations involving misleading business representations. “True and accurate record-keeping is the core, in fact, the basis for business integrity and a well-functioning company marketplace – that’s the accusation that’s presented here, fabricating New York State business records,” the complaint reads.
