While former and potentially future President Donald Trump is presently dealing with charges for his handling of classified documents, it's not the first time he's faced charges that have prompted cries of politics and weaponization of the Department of Justice (DOJ). Back in April, Trump pled not guilty to the 34 felony charges brought forth by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg over hush money payments. Not only does it certainly appear that Bragg is bringing forth such charges as a matter of politics, but he's been less than forthcoming, prompting the Heritage Foundation to file two lawsuits against Bragg on Monday in his official capacity.
On March 21, days before Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, Heritage sent a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for information on contact Bragg's office may have had with the White House, the DOJ, and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) about the charges.
As we covered in April, Goldman looks to have quite the connection to Bragg's office, and had reportedly been consulting with Bragg about the charges. He had prosecuted the first Trump impeachment before he took his current office, he had fundraised for Bragg's election as DA, and he and Bragg had served as Assistant United States Attorneys at the Southern District of New York.
The first lawsuit, shared by the Epoch Times, was filed with the Supreme Court of New York and is looking to compel compliance with the New York FOIL law.
"Part of this controversy focused—and focuses—on the widespread criticism that the legal theory under which Respondent indicted President Trump is extraordinarily weak, and in the eyes of some, flirts with the frivolous," the lawsuit read at one point.
"Of particular applicability here, these criticisms and the Congressional investigations featured front and center in reports that DA Bragg may have coordinated his case with President Trump’s political opponents in the White House, the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Congress," that first lawsuit also indicated. "Regrettably, these questions have not been met with answers. These reports have raised concerns in many circles based in large part upon the longstanding history of President Trump’s political opponents coordinating their activities to systematically weaponize the criminal justice system against him and thereby pervert the course of Justice," it went on to read.
Another lawsuit also deals with the FOIL law and asks for documents pertaining to Bragg's pro-bono assistance from top law firms with the Trump case.
The @Heritage Foundation think tank filed two Freedom of Information Law lawsuitshttps://t.co/vKq08jciGM
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) June 19, 2023
Mike Howell, a plaintiff in the case who serves as the director of Heritage's Oversight Project, spoke to Fox News about the lawsuits and said the think tank believes Bragg was "coordinating, or otherwise communicating" with Trump's political opposition, and that "there's reason to believe Bragg was a "prolific communicator" via cellphone.
His comments also reflected concerns with the sense of a two-tiered justice system. "The fact we have to file a lawsuit against Bragg who says he can't produce these records and says he doesn't have the systems to do so, is proof-positive of another dual standard of justice at play in this country," Howell said. "You have a weaponized actor who's going after the former president on a loony theory about his document retention, whereas the DA can't even keep his own documents, and it's in violation of the information laws he is bound by."
Howell also called Bragg "a hypocrite" and noted "he's wasting an exorbitant amount of New York's taxpayer's dollars to defend this now and delay it and obstruct it when he could’ve just turned it over."
Bragg's handling of the case has been criticized on several fronts, including when it comes to how charges could have been misdemeanors, the statute of limitation has expired, and it involves an untested legal theory.
Even before the lawsuit was filed, polling shows that Americans believe the charges to be politically motivated.
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