Woke DA Alvin Bragg who’s set to indict Trump is one of America’s most controversial
After Trump announced he believed he would be arrested Tuesday by Alvin Bragg’s office, his rep called the prosecutor a “George Soros-funded radical left Democratic prosecutor,” but who is actually the controversial prosecutor of Manhattan?
The Harvard-educated attorney, 49, joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in 2021, becoming the first African-American to hold the title.
He distinguished himself from his predecessors and soon instituted a “soft on crime” policy that caused New York City to become a blood-soaked hell.
Transit crimes skyrocketed above 50 percent — including a mass shooting and several being pushed onto train tracks — and a bodega clerk was infamously charged with murder after defending himself against a robber.
Almost immediately, Bragg drew massive criticism for his lax bail law, which allowed many criminals to repeatedly enter and exit the system without prosecution, allowing them to continually terrorize New Yorkers.
The law is enforced by the state, but Bragg initially resisted efforts to weaken it.
Even Mayor Eric Adams, who promises New Yorkers that he would crack down on the crime that had risen during the pandemic, criticized him, as did the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul.
Alvin Bragg, 49, has been widely criticized for his soft-spoken crime policy, which he has since backtracked on, with career criminals running the streets and New Yorkers fearing attack
Adams later revealed that just 10 criminals were responsible for nearly 500 crimes in the city, placing the blame for the repeated offenses on Bragg. The announcement came with a call for judges and legislatures to end lax bail reforms that are putting more violent criminals back on the streets.
He talked about how the 2012 reforms, ushered in by Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, now made it impossible for criminals to be jailed.
During his press conference, Adams, a former cop, said angrily, “You have to work really hard to get to Rikers now. To get there, you did something really bad.’
In addition, Adams and Bragg were criticized after six police officers were shot in their first few weeks in office.
He faced backlash after he charged shopkeeper Jose Alba, 61, with murder after being attacked by 35-year-old Austin Simon on July 1
Alba defended himself and in the ensuing fight Simon was stabbed to death and the bodega worker was charged
On July 19, the office of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg asked a judge to drop charges against Alba after he faced strong backlash, including criticism from the city’s mayor.
Many violent crimes, such as robberies and gun possession charges, eased, but after a year in office, Bragg had to fall back on his soft crime policy.
Alvin Bragg sent a memo to all his associates in February 2022 making it clear that any crime involving a firearm would be prosecuted as a misdemeanor – contradicting the position he took a month ago.
“Gun possession cases are an important part of our public safety plan,” Bragg wrote in his memo.
“People who walk the streets with guns will be prosecuted and held accountable. The default in gun cases is felony prosecution,” he added.
The move by Manhattan District Attorney Bragg directly contradicted the position he laid out in a memo on his first full day on the job.
He went on to say that armed robbery charges would be reduced to misconduct if the firearm did not “create a real risk of bodily harm.”
Bragg has now changed his tone and says robbing commercial businesses with a knife would also be charged as a felony if there was a real threat.
He even drew criticism from his fellow New York politicians, Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, who opposed his bail laws that released criminals. Adams campaigned for a safer New York and crackdown on crime while running for mayor
Since the start of 2023, the city’s crime rate has dropped significantly, currently down 0.2 percent compared to the same time last year. For much of 2022, however, New Yorkers remember it rising to 40 percent and begging for subway station cops and bail reinstatement
But shoplifting, he said, would be assessed on a case-by-case basis “based on all aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented.”
He faced backlash after he charged shopkeeper Jose Alba, 61, with murder after being attacked by 35-year-old Austin Simon on July 1. Alba defended himself and in the ensuing fight Simon was stabbed to death and the bodega worker was charged.
On July 19, the office of Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg asked a judge to drop charges against Alba after he faced strong backlash, including criticism from the city’s mayor.
Alba, charged with second-degree murder, was working at the Blue Moon deli on July 1 when he fatally stabbed Simon in the neck and chest.
Surveillance footage clearly showed that Simon had moved behind the counter of the convenience store in Hamilton Heights and pushed the store clerk against a stack of shelves before grabbing hold of him.
Only then did Alba reach for a plank and pull out a knife to fight back.
During the altercation, Alba was apparently stabbed by Simon’s girlfriend, who caused the argument when her benefits card was declined. The girlfriend was never charged in the incident.
The motion to dismiss said prosecutors “have determined that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was unjustified in his use of deadly physical force.”
In February 2022, Bragg reversed his mild-mannered crime policy and reinstated several crimes as felonies.
The filing stated that “a murder case against Alba could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial” and that the case will not go to a grand jury.
Alba’s assailant had prior convictions.
Since the start of 2023, the city’s crime rate has dropped significantly, currently down 0.2 percent compared to the same time last year.
For much of 2022, however, New Yorkers remember it rising as high as 40 percent, begging for subway station cops and bail reinstatement.
Now his name is back in the mix after Trump stated on Truth Social that Bragg’s office planned to arrest him Tuesday over claims he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair.
Prosecutors in DA Alvin Bragg’s office told The New York Times they didn’t know why Trump thought his arrest would take place as early as Tuesday. Insiders said one more witness has yet to testify before a grand jury, which could delay his possible arrest.
Now his name is back in the mix after Trump stated on Truth Social that Bragg’s office planned to arrest him Tuesday over claims he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair
A source close to Trump’s advisers told the Times their best guess was Tuesday and that someone must have passed that on to the Republican before he went to Truth Social to make his claims.
Others have speculated that Trump may simply be trying to get ahead of the news cycle and soften the impact of an arrest.
“There has been no report, other than illegal leaks from the Justice Department and the District Attorney’s office, to NBC and other fake news outlets, that the George Soros-funded radical left Democratic Attorney General in Manhattan has decided to end its witch hunt for the next level,” a Trump spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement.
President Trump rightly emphasizes his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system. He will be in Texas next weekend for a massive rally. Make America Great Again!’
His claims come more than six years after Trump’s lawyers paid Daniels a total of $130,000 to keep the affair quiet, with New York prosecutors considering whether he should be charged. Trump denies the affair and knowledge of the payments.
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