Bragg Grilled Over Previous Efforts to Charge Trump

Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was grilled Tuesday by reporters about why he proceeded in his investigation into former President Donald Trump when others before him had concluded there was not enough evidence to warrant an indictment.

The Federal Elections Commission and Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, had reportedly investigated Trump but did not pursue charges. And when Bragg began his term as the Manhattan DA in January 2022, he expressed reservations about pursuing the case. Trump was arraigned Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment on falsifying records in the first degree.

A reporter asked Bragg, who campaigned in 2021 to bring charges against the former president, during a news conference why he decided to go ahead with the investigation after initially having reservations.

He said when he made those comments, the investigation “was not concluded” and “since that time, we’ve had more evidence made available to the office and an opportunity to meet with additional witnesses.”

“As I said earlier, I’ve been doing this for 24 years,” Bragg said. “I don’t bring cases prior to a thorough and rigorous investigation. Now having done so, the case has been brought.”

NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Haake then asked Bragg: “Your predecessor took a hard look at this case and decided not to charge it, federal prosecutors took a hard look at this case and  decided not to charge it — do you believe you have new evidence that led to you to decide to charge this, or why now?”

“As I just mentioned, we’ve had available to the office additional evidence that was not in the office’s possession prior to my time here,” Bragg said.

Despite the FEC passing on the case, Bragg said there was a “distinct and strong, I would say profound, independent interest in New York State” because it is “the business capital of the world.”

“We regularly do cases involving false business statements,” he said. “The bedrock, in fact, the basis for business integrity and a well-functioning business marketplace is true and accurate record-keeping — that’s the charge that’s brought here, falsifying New York State business records.”

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