Though it hasn't been included much in the news cycle recently, former President Donald Trump still faces Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's hush money-related indictment.
Bragg made headlines again last week when it was reported that he now seeks access "to communication records involving the Trump Organization and the White House," The Western Journal reported.
An Associated Press report noted that the request includes communications between Melania Trump and her longtime adviser, Rhona Graff.
Former senior adviser to the former first lady Stephanie Winston Wolkoff published a notable tweet concerning Melania Trump's communication preferences.
"Melania Trump used several email addresses, texts, and Signal to communicate with me and others while working in the White House and prosecutors want to see them," Wolkoff tweeted.
Melania Trump used several email addresses, texts, and Signal to communicate with me and others while working in the White House and prosecutors want to see them. pic.twitter.com/500DflyMRv
— Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (@SWinstonWolkoff) June 26, 2023
Bragg's team of prosecutors issued two subponeanas last week, with the first one related to a request for information regarding Donald Trump's deposition in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. The prosecutors claimed it was "relevant" to the hush-money case.
The second subpoena was the one that asked for Melania Trump's communications. Mr. Trump's legal team has attempted to fight both requests.
The AP noted:
Trump pleaded not guilty in April to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges relate to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that Trump had extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing.
The former president has long argued that the judge handling the case, Judge Juan Manuel Merchan, is a "Trump-hating judge," given that his daughter has worked for a political consulting firm that has performed services for some of Trump's Democratic rivals.
Mr. Trump and his legal team had previously moved to force the judge to recuse himself from the case, but an ethics panel and the Manhattan DA's office both found that there's no state law that would required the judge to recuse himself.
The AP added:
Matthew Colangelo, a senior counsel to District Attorney Alvin Bragg, agreed that neither issue was grounds for Merchan to step aside. He painted Trump’s recusal motion as the latest in his “prolific history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias.”
Bragg, a George Soros-funded district attorney, was widely criticized from both sides of the political aisle regarding his case against Mr. Trump, which many claim was loose and weak, at best.
Only time will tell if Trump is able to fend Bragg off before the 2024 election season kicks into full gear, as he has one other indictment, and possibly several more before the end of the year, to worry about.
