LARRY KUDLOW: Trump probe is political persecution
Kudlow reacts to the indictment
Larry Kudlow slams Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg for his indictment of Trump and the New York’s court decision to push back Trump’s next hearing until December 9.
As you know, Former President Trump has pleaded "not guilty" to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, charged by the grand jury convened by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg.
This was a case rejected by the Justice Department, rejected by the Federal Election Commission, rejected by Bragg's predecessor Cy Vance and initially rejected by Bragg himself. Now, magically he's come up with 34 counts.
This is a guy who explicitly ran to "get Trump." Remember? When he ran to get Trump, he had no evidence, no information. So, as you may guess, I don't think much of Mr. Bragg, who has spent months going after Trump but failed to take down some of New York's worst repeat offenders, including several with over 100 arrests.
Many of them are still roaming the streets of the city. The same 10 criminals made up nearly 500 crimes -- 60% of them are still out there and this year alone, New York has suffered 84 homicides and more than 3,400 robberies. Bragg apparently has no time for repeat criminals, but has plenty of time to go after Donald Trump.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr is calling it the "epitome of prosecutorial abuse," "a pathetically weak legal theory" and "a crossing of the Rubicon."
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Former prosecutor Andrew McCarthy writes in the National Review, "This appears to be about as execrable an exercise of prosecutorial discretion as one can fathom." Andy will be here in just a moment.
Former Federal Election Commission chair Bradley Smith writes in the WSJ that "the ‘crime’ that Mr. Bragg claims is being covered up isn’t a crime at all." Mr. Smith will also be here in a moment.
Fox News Legal Analyst Gregg Jarrett calls the case against Trump a "politically motivated witch hunt." Gregg will also be here in just a moment. Influential Congressman Byron Donalds refers to this judicial travesty as "political persecution." He too is coming up in the show.
For my part, it’s political persecution and prosecution and, by the way, as the non-lawyer, can I just ask a few questions, please? Everyone refers to something called "hush money," but we don't know if there was any "hush money" from Mr. Trump.
His disgraced former lawyer, the convicted perjurer Michael Cohen, has said on one occasion trump paid it through him, but on another occasion has said Trump never knew anything about it. Stormy Daniels in two letters has said there was no affair with Mr. Trump, though no one wants to refer to those letters.
Attorney Robert Costello, who once represented Cohen, told the grand jury that there were 315 e-mails they were not shown by D.A. Bragg, including evidence that Trump had no knowledge of what Cohen was doing. Just saying!
Remember, I'm the non-lawyer here. How about a venue change? Bragg ran to get Trump in Manhattan. I don't think there are any Republicans left in Manhattan, except our small weekly dinner group at Italian restaurants.
How about moving it to Staten Island? Plenty of patriots there and what about the statute of limitations running out for both misdemeanor and felony charges? What happened to them?
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Democratic candidate for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg speaks to the press after casting his ballot in the New York City election in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar (REUTERS/Mike Segar / Reuters Photos)
Just for one moment, away from the courtroom, what about the deep recession in manufacturing? Continued high inflation? The Saudis and the Russians jacking up oil prices just a couple of days after the Bragg indictment announcement without a peep from President Biden and, oh, yeah, a Chinese balloon floating over the country pausing just long enough to eavesdrop over our nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile system?
Oh and, did I forget the Mexican drug cartels run the southern border. And that concerned parents are fighting on a daily basis to get their kids a decent education? Alvin Bragg is really just another left-wing apple. Donald Trump is still standing proudly. I believe he'll beat the rap and then he'll get on with the task of making America great again, again.
This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the April 4, 2023, edition of "Kudlow."