Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is withholding crucial information from former President Donald Trump about his ongoing hush-money case, the Conservative Brief reported. Legal expert Alan Dershowitz warns Bragg is trying to "keep secret" information Trump's team needs to mount a defense.
Trump's team requested a bill of particulars that would provide a detailed outline of the charges leveled against him. Bragg denied that request and slammed the former president for even asking for it.
The district attorney told Trump's team they "already received and will receive far more factual information than the People are required to provide," the New York Sun reported. Bragg added that he doesn't have to reveal "the prosecution’s legal theory."
Dershowitz believes this is a ridiculous assertion. "How do you put on a defense if you don’t know the crime?" he said.
Harvey Silverglate, another legal expert and litigator, confirmed that Trump is "absolutely entitled" to all of the prosecutor's evidence against him. The problem for Bragg is that he has hinged his federal prosecution on a flimsy premise and is counting on keeping Trump's team in the dark as part of his strategy.
Trump is accused of making hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels, but Bragg needs to prove a second related crime to elevate the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony. The nature of that crime is what remains nebulous, and perhaps purposefully.
Bragg's 34-count indictment doesn't provide that information despite its relevance to the case. In fact, Trump won't know the full scope of the case against him unless he agrees to Judge Juan Merchan's protective order that would muzzle the former president and require some evidence to be viewed only while attorneys are present.
The only justification Bragg is providing is that "where an intent to commit or conceal another crime is an element of an offense, the People need not prove intent to commit or conceal a particular crime." Moreover, he has rebuffed the attorneys' request to "identify the person or entity who Donald J. Trump is alleged to have intended to defraud by means of the allegedly false business record."
Instead of turning over the information, Bragg simply contends that "'the People are not required to establish that a defendant ‘acted with intent to defraud a particular person or business entity.'" Everyone is left guessing as to what the charges might be, whether election law or tax fraud -- including Trump and his legal team.
Dershowitz said he's "never seen a weaker indictment" than Bragg's against Trump and that there's "never been a case in American history where anybody has been indicted for failing to disclose hush money about an alleged illicit affair." He further states there's an "absolute Constitutional right" for Trump to know what he's being charged with before facing a judge.
The Sixth Amendment says as much, stating that each defendant has a right to "be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation" and also "be confronted with the witnesses against him." Still, Bragg is bent on providing neither.
Silverglate slammed Bragg, stating that his "refusal to enlighten defense counsel is unforgivable" and that the case is riddled with "one disaster after another." This is not surprising given that the main objective is not to prosecute a crime but rather bog down the former president in litigation.
The left is frightened of Trump's continued popularity heading into the 2024 presidential election season and is continuing its strategy of leveling flimsy legal charges against him. Meanwhile, evidence of corruption against opponent President Joe Biden continues to pile up.
Bragg is a partisan hack with a vendetta against the former president, but Trump thrives on these battles. As usual, Trump will come out on the other side with more support, while Democrats will have nothing to show for their trouble.
