During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," former U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg pushed back at conservatives who have been whining that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has a "weak case" against former President Donald Trump as part of his investigation over hush money being paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
On Friday it was reported that an indictment might be forthcoming this week from a Manhattan grand jury against the former president. That, in turn, led Trump to claim on Truth Social that he will be "arrested" on Tuesday, which was followed by outrage from Trump's defenders in Congress who took to social media and the Sunday cable shows to attack Bragg.
As part of their defense of Trump, some Republicans leveled complaints that the case against the former president is weak, well before the details of the possible indictment have been revealed.
According to former prosecutor Rosenberg, nothing about what Bragg is investigating should be dismissed as trivial.
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"People keep referring to the New York case as the weakest case. To me, as a former prosecutor, weak means a case where the evidence is thin or perhaps you don't have a reasonable probability of conviction," Rosenberg explained to the MSNBC hosts. "What I think they might mean is that it's the less serious case and how serious a case is is reflected in how it is categorized or classified."
"In this case, under New York State law, it's a misdemeanor so it's admittedly less serious and how serious a case is is also sort of explained or demonstrated by how it is sentenced," he elaborated. "Murder is a very serious case and people often go to jail for a very long time, if not for life. Falsifying business records under New York state law is a less serious case, so the penalties are less severe."
"It doesn't make it a weak case if you look at it from the perspective of a prosecutor -- you bring your case when it is ready," he continued. "So it would be a political decision to bring it too soon for some other purpose or to wait for some other purpose. If the case is ready, and as the elected prosecutor in Manhattan, you believe it is an appropriate charge, you bring it. It may be less serious than the other cases out there, but that doesn't make it weaker."
MSNBC 03 20 2023 06 28 38youtu.be
