By coming for Donald Trump, the left is coming for all Americans who don’t toe the line.
The anticipated indictment of the former president — set into motion by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin “Chipmunk” Bragg — does little more than regurgitate the same political witch hunt long since debunked.
Funded by left-wing financier George Soros to the tune of $1 million, Bragg is desperate for his five minutes of fame. He apparently believes prosecuting a former U.S. president on trumped-up charges will get him the adulation he so desperately seeks. Rather than focusing on the crime crisis plaguing New York (thanks in large part to his “reforms”), Bragg is obsessed with finding something — anything — wrong with a former president he loathes, sticking it to his political opponents who support him.
This isn’t about the 2024 or the 2020 elections; it’s about the 2016 election — the petty revenge of small people. While I may be pro-Ron DeSantis now, I am pro-America first and foremost, and indicting Trump on some bizarre state theory about a federal non-crime amounts to sliding down the slippery slope, off the cliff, and into an ocean of stupid. To quote DeSantis, “That’s an example of pursuing a political agenda.”
All the while, New York is cracking under the predictable results of Bragg’s policies — from downgraded charges to reduced connections for criminals. More felons are on the streets while law-abiding civilians bear the consequences.
As a career campaign finance lawyer, I’ve stated many times since Trump’s election that America’s former president did not violate campaign finance law by paying off an adult film star with his own money. If Trump had spent campaign funds to buy her silence, it would have been illegal — but he didn’t. He paid personal funds to reimburse his personal lawyer for what the lawyer advanced on behalf of his client. Just because he was also a candidate doesn’t make anything he personally spends for his own benefit a campaign finance transaction.
Campaign finance law also prohibits candidates from paying their rent or mortgage with campaign funds. Will district attorneys next prosecute every member of Congress for this newfound campaign finance violation of not reporting personal mortgage payments?
Far from politics, this is clearly a matter of Trump’s business interests. The “Trump” name is one of America’s most recognizable brands — it is a household name, unlike many Fortune 500 companies. And the Trump brand is big business, so protecting its reputation is as critical to those business interests as it is to child-grooming Disney, child-laboring Nike, or penguin-killing Patagonia (who would happily sue me if that wasn’t obvious sarcasm). These businesses, like Trump, spend heavily to shield their brands from reputational harm (and often fail at it).
That Trump happened to be a political candidate did not magically transform this regular act of brand management into a campaign contribution.
There isn’t even smoke, let alone fire, in this story. Nor do local DAs get to enforce federal law — long past the statute of limitations — just as Bragg wouldn’t be caught dead enforcing federal immigration law or the still-criminal status of marijuana. At the very worst, even if re-characterized to be campaign-related, Trump’s “violation” amounts to underreporting a relatively insignificant contribution from a candidate to his campaign. To the FEC, it’s a speeding ticket.
Of course, while not a legal matter, the real solution to Trump’s problem when it comes to paying off porn-star accusers would have been to not be in that situation in the first place. But I guess you can only ask so much.
But that is the past, and it doesn’t change the present: The left’s vilification and persecution of Trump is despicable and un-American. It has given bad lawyering a worse name than ever, with Democrats exploiting the legal system for political gain. Rather than solving New York’s rampant crime problems, the Manhattan DA is playing to his base with baseless accusations in the hope of staying employed amid a crime wave of his own making.
The consequences of Bragg’s actions remain to be seen. Still, he has unilaterally deepened America’s political divisions in a matter of days. A dangerous precedent has been set. Trust in the legal system has fallen off a cliff. Skepticism is sky-high, and Americans are exponentially more divided than before — and that’s saying something. All thanks to the cocky “Chipmunk.”
