This week Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg is likely to indict Donald Trump on a case that would never, ever have been brought against a Democrat or anyone else for that matter. Ever wondered what it’s like to live in a banana republic? You are living in one now.
For a party that claims to care about “democracy” the Democrats are sure working hard to destroy your faith in every democratic institution. This week George Soros-funded Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg may indict Donald Trump for the non-crime of paying hush money to stripped Stormy Daniels.
First, some facts. It is not illegal to pay hush money. Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz explains:
“The president is entitled to pay hush money to anyone he wants during a campaign. There are no restrictions on what a candidate can contribute to his own campaign.“
As constitutional law scholar Jonathan Turley puts it, Bragg has no case:
It should be remembered that Donald Trump paid this money out of his own pocket. Far worse are the many, many cases in which politicians had the government pay hush money n their behalf.
The use of hush money and non-disclosure agreements negotiated and paid for by the government is quite common. In fact, in Massachusetts, the use of hush money and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) is coming to the fore thanks to the work of State Auditor Diane DiZoglio.
Auditor DiZoglio is looking into the use of NDAs in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states, and the Democrats are having a fit. Auditor DiZoglio herself was subject to such a gag order.
Repeat: unlike Trump’s case which involved his own funds and his own attorney, when Massachusetts and other governments pay out settlements and then seal the case, this is taxpayer money and NDAs negotiated by government attorneys on the public payroll.
It’s no wonder that Mark Twain called politicians America’s only native criminal class.
There’s more. It’s not just states. The federal government that routinely pays hush money to make troublesome cases go away for members of Congress: $17 million dollars in all. Want to find out who this money was paid to? Good luck. They ain’t telling. All the victims have NDAs.
To the ordinary citizen, this stuff shows how corrupt the legal system has become. Prosecutors should bring cases for which they have reasonable legal grounds, not to get headlines or pursue vendettas against those with whom they have political differences.
A majority of Americans no longer trust state courts to deliver justice. According to the National Center for State Courts, 49 percent of Americans now say that state courts, like the one the Mr. Bragg practices in, do not deliver equal justice compared to 43 percent of Americans that do.
Politicized prosecutions like that of Mr. Trump are a toxin on the legal system.
When those who, like DA Bragg, are supposed to treat the law with respect instead bastardize the system because they have a political ax to grind, they shred the constitution and whatever respect remains among the general public for the institutions of American life.