Alvin Bragg “obstructed justice” during Donald Trump trial—Legal analyst

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “obstructed justice” in the criminal hush money case against former President Donald Trump, according to Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett on Friday.

Trump’s hush money trial is nearing its final days, with closing arguments expected on Tuesday with the jury then beginning their deliberations to determine if the former president is guilty or not. The high-profile case is the first time in U.S. history that a former president has stood trial in a criminal case.

Following an investigation by Bragg’s office, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was indicted in March 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records, accused of attempting to conceal hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels by Trump’s then-lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels had alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said the case against him is politically motivated.

On Fox News’ Hannity on Friday, Jarrett, a former defense attorney and author who is also known for his pro-Trump stances, called the trial a “sham case,” adding in his over four decades of legal experience that he’s “never seen such a shameful abuse of the legal system.”

He alleged that “Alvin Bragg and Judge [Juan] Merchan worked in tandem as co-prosecutors.” In an opinion article earlier this week, Jarrett claimed that Merchan’s rulings consistently favor Bragg’s prosecution team.

Jarrett told Fox News’ Jason Chaffetz who was filling in for host Sean Hannity that the “DA obstructed justice, concealed exculpatory evidence to the grand jury, manufactured this laughable indictment, and then suborned perjury at the trial—they knew Cohen would lie, they wanted him to lie.”

The prosecution’s case largely rests on Cohen—their key witness. He is a disbarred lawyer who previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and lyinto Congress. Criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Rocco Cipparone described Cohen as having a “lot of admitted and unadmitted baggage” in an interview with Newsweek on Saturday.

“This is a performance trial, not a real trial,” Jarrett added.

Newsweek reached out to Jarrett for comment via his personal website on Saturday and also has reached out to several legal analysts for comment. Newsweek left a message at the Manhattan district attorney’s office after hours on Saturday for comment.

Trump’s hush money case has sparked political commentary, with several Republican attorneys and politicians, notably House Speaker Mike Johnson, also calling the trial a “sham” and alleging the existence of political connections behind the scenes.

“These criticisms were always expected, especially as the trial has gone so favorably for prosecutors,” Dave Aronberg, the state attorney in Florida’s Palm Beach County, told Newsweek in an email Saturday. “If you can’t refute the evidence, attack the prosecutor and the judge.”

In a similar vein, Glenn Kirschner, former assistant U.S. attorney and frequent critic of the former president, said in a YouTube video on Wednesday that there’s a “mountain” of corroborating evidence against the former president, referencing witness testimonies, business records, and reimbursement checks.

“The evidence has proved, friends, beyond all doubt, not just beyond a reasonable doubt, beyond all doubt that Donald Trump committed these crimes,” he said.

In a recent CBS News/YouGov poll that surveyed 1,402 adults from May 14 to 21, 56 percent said Trump is definitely or probably guilty of a crime in this case. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

In a criminal trial, a jury must find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, if not, the defendant is deemed not guilty. The jury must submit a unanimous vote, otherwise, it is considered a hung jury.