New York, Mar 31 (PTI) Scandals and allegations have been commonplace for Donald Trump for most of the over seven decades that he has walked this planet but handing him the ignominy of becoming the first US President to be indicted on criminal charges is fellow New Yorker and first Black Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A grand jury in Manhattan Thursday afternoon voted to indict the real estate tycoon, former reality TV host and America’s Commander-in-Chief, making 76-year-old Trump the first former US President to face criminal charges.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Bragg, who is bringing the criminal charges against Trump in connection with USD 130,000 hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, said in a statement that “this evening, we contacted Mr Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected.” Born in Harlem, Bragg, 49 a Harvard Law School alumnus, was sworn in as the 37th District Attorney of New York County (Manhattan) in January 2022.
He is only the fourth person to be elected to this office in the last 80 years and made history as the first Black Manhattan DA. He has served as both a state and federal prosecutor, spending “more than two decades fighting to make our communities safer and our criminal justice system fairer,” the DA’s office said.
His office has said that as a “long-time white-collar prosecutor”, Bragg “believes in holding powerful people accountable” for harming everyday New Yorkers.
His track record includes a 6-count indictment against former Chief Strategist and Counselor to President Trump, Stephen Bannon and WeBuildTheWall, Inc., a Florida-based not-for-profit corporation, on charges including money laundering, conspiracy, and scheme to defraud in connection with a year-long fundraising scheme that netted more than USD 15 million from thousands of donors across the country based on false promises.
He also secured the conviction of Trump Organisation Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg on 15 felony counts in connection with a long-running tax evasion scheme.
In January this year, when Bragg announced the sentencing of The Trump Corporation and The Trump Payroll Corp, following the first-ever criminal conviction of former President Trump’s companies, he had said “While corporations can’t serve jail time, this consequential conviction and sentencing serves as a reminder to corporations and executives that you cannot defraud tax authorities and get away with it.” The Trump Organisation was ordered to pay a total maximum fine of USD 1.61 million, “based on the magnitude of the long-running scheme to defraud tax authorities and the all-count convictions.” Under Bragg’s leadership so far, the office has increased gun prosecutions, focused on gun traffickers and ghost gun manufacturers, and charged and secured convictions for numerous armed robberies, shootings, and homicides. At the same time, the office invested in community-based gun violence prevention programs and services to address the trauma suffered by victims and witnesses to gun violence.
At the time of his swearing-in, Bragg had vowed to never stop working to achieve the change that New York’s criminal justice system so desperately needs.
“This has been a long journey that started in the same place I’ve lived my whole life, the village of Harlem. And today, that 15-year-old boy who was stopped at gunpoint by the police is the Manhattan District Attorney,” he had said.
He has also created a new Special Victims Division, which includes the Domestic Violence, Sex Crimes, Human Trafficking, Child Abuse, and Elder Abuse Units. Bragg also expanded the Hate Crimes Unit with additional prosecutors, investigators, analysts, victim services staff and community partnership coordinators.
The Unit is taking on a record number of complex cases and conducting intensive outreach to build community trust and encourage reporting of hate crimes, his office said.
Prior to his election as DA, Bragg served as an Assistant Attorney General at the New York State Attorney General’s Office and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In these roles, Alvin handled a wide array of criminal cases, including armed robbery, assault, gun possession, witness tampering, narcotics and gun trafficking, wage and hour violations, public corruption, money laundering, and antitrust violations.
Before being sworn in as District Attorney, Bragg was a Visiting Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Racial Justice Project at New York Law School.
In that role, he represented Eric Garner’s mother and sister in a lawsuit against the City of New York seeking details concerning Garner’s death.
The 43-year-old African-American man was killed in July 2014 on a Staten Island sidewalk after being placed in a chokehold by an NYPD officer.
Bragg studied at Harvard University and Harvard Law School and clerked for Robert P Patterson, Jr in the Southern District of New York.
He is a former member of the Board of Directors of the New York Urban League and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and a Sunday School teacher at his church. PTI YAS NSA AKJ NSA
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.