Politically, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s made sense. Bragg won the 2021
Democratic primary by being the best far left wing candidate in the field. Primary turnout is typically low, so by definition, the people who choose the next DA are strongly partisan
Democrats. Indicting Trump on charges of falsifying business records endeared Bragg to the base, regardless of the strength of the case itself. In doing so, Bragg probably ensured his reelection. The problem is that Bragg’s case is not only weak by comparison to the two federal indictments of Trump for what essentially amounts to treason and espionage, his case now just looks silly. Covering up sex with a porn star is not exactly the same as trying to overthrow the federal government. Bragg’s case is due to start on March 25, two months before Special Counsel Jack Smith’s . (A date for Smith’s has not been set yet, although Smith has requested Jan. 2, which seems unlikely.) This all helps Trump, whose Manhattan trial will be in the middle of the GOP presidential primary, just weeks after Super Tuesday. As we’ve seen from polling after each indictment, Trump’s support only grows with his base each time. And while it seems insane that any presidential candidate under multiple criminal indictments could possibly win, have him running neck and neck with President Biden. Bragg’s case could be the first criminal prosecution of a U.S. president in history. The whole world will be watching. Except they’ll be watching the wrong thing. It’s like taking someone accused of murder and armed robbery and prosecuting them for shoplifting first (this may be a bad analogy since Bragg doesn’t actually prosecute shoplifters). The cases that need to be made to the
American people is that Trump tried to overturn the results of a legitimate
election so he could stay in power and that Trump took highly classified intelligence, left it lying around a ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, and we still have no idea what he intended to do with the documents — or who he intended to sell them to. Instead of seeing a trial about existentially serious issues, we’ll endure a sideshow that only undermines the seriousness of Smith’s cases against Trump. The Bragg prosecution gives Trump the bully pulpit to argue that he’s the victim of a vast conspiracy, and if Bragg loses the case, it helps Trump combat the vastly more serious charges, both politically and, potentially even legally, since jurors are human beings who would likely be influenced by the most recent verdict. A prosecution on a comparatively low level case by elite Manhattan lawyers only reinforces everything Trump voters already believe and despise. The reason Trump’s numbers only go up after each indictment is because his base sees him as the one person standing up for them against the entire system. For serious crimes like treason and espionage, you have to move forward regardless of how his supporters feel. But for something that a normal person would probably never be charged with? Especially in an environment where the same district attorney fails to prosecute criminal behavior all of the time in the name of social justice? It’s tone deaf. Bragg should push his case back to after the classified documents and Jan. 6 trials. Assuming Trump is soon charged with election fraud in Georgia, that should come first too. If Trump is convicted in any of those cases, Bragg’s trial may not even be necessary. And any trial involving
Donald Trump creates severe security and public safety risks — risks
New York City may be able to avoid entirely if the other cases succeed, meaning we can allow the NYPD to focus on fighting crime rather than preventing riots outside the courthouse. Pushing the trial back also reduces the reputational risk for Bragg. If Bragg goes first and loses, that’s what the entire world will know and remember about him. If Smith goes first and Trump has already been convicted of serious charges, then Bragg’s outcome won’t matter either way, but he’ll still get credit with his base for holding Trump accountable. Indicting Trump was good politics for Bragg, especially after a rocky first year in office. It will likely secure his reelection in 2025. But one politician’s needs and ambitions can’t come at the expense of the good of the country. We just had someone like that. His name is Donald Trump. Putting the weakest, most insignificant case first only plays into Trump’s hands. Let’s be smarter than that.