Since last week, media outlets have been abuzz with speculation about the supposed crimes of former President Donald Trump set to be prosecuted by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, but according to former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, a reversal of that thought process is in order in that it is actually Bragg who may be guilty of a felony offense, as the Daily Wire reports.
Ratcliffe's claims came during an appearance on Fox News' Sunday Morning Futures with host Maria Bartiromo, and in his estimation, there is only one felony that has clearly been committed, namely, the leaking by either Bragg himself or a member of the grand jury the very fact of Trump's indictment in relation to a hush money payment made to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels.
Himself a former federal prosecutor, congressman, and Trump administration official, Ratcliffe explained why he believes criminal charges are justified after details of the former president's indictment made their way into the media.
“The only felony of which we can be certain to come out of this Alvin Bragg prosecution in New York is the felony committed either by D.A. Bragg himself or someone on the grand jury that he's using for this perversion of our justice system,” Ratcliffe said.
Trump's former director of national intelligence continued, “The accused, Donald Trump, and his lawyers, don't know that's in this sealed indictment. But for the past, what? Seventy-two hours, the American public has been discussing supposedly 30 or 34 felony counts.”
“Leaking grand jury information is a felony. And so, the only people capable of that would be Alvin Bragg's team or members of the grand jury itself,” Ratcliffe concluded. WATCH:
DNI John Ratcliffe says that Alvin Bragg may have committed a felony.
Leaking grand jury information is a felony and so the only people capable of that would be Alvin Bragg’s team or members of the grand jury itself.”
Ready for the boomerang? pic.twitter.com/kshBZVG0rA
— vanhoa (@vanhoa2272) April 2, 2023
Adding his voice to those who believe criminal leaking may have occurred in connection to the Trump indictment is Harvard Law professor emeritus and renowned defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, as the Daily Wire further noted.
Appearing on OANN, Dershowitz declared it a serious problem that “somebody criminally leaked the indictment before it was supposed to come out.”
Dershowitz continued, “New York Penal Law provides for a year or five years in jail for any grand juror, any prosecutor, any interpreter, police officer who discloses any aspect of an ongoing grand jury proceeding. D.A. Bragg has a crime in front of him committed by one of his people, and he's not investigating it.”
“Instead, he ran for office saying 'I'm gonna get Trump, whether he committed a crime or not. It doesn't matter to me. I promise to get Trump. After all, I'm a Democrat, and he's a Republican, and he's running against my boss, the president of the United States,” Dershowitz lamented.
That aside, as Mediaite notes, Dershowitz has also gone on record suggesting that if Bragg goes ahead with the case against Trump under the theory most observers have anticipated and uses discredited former lawyer Michael Cohen as a key witness, his law license could be at risk.
“It's unethical to put a witness on the stand who you know is lying, and he has to know that Cohen will be lying,” Dershowitz declared.
However, until the indictment itself is unsealed, Bragg's strategy begins to reveal itself, and Trump's defense lawyers get to work, the manner in which this unprecedented spectacle ultimately plays out is anyone's guess.
