New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a response to Donald Trump's motion asking that his case be tossed out of court — and accused the defendant of demanding special treatment because he was a presidential candidate.
The former president had complained last month that the case – which focuses on payments Trump allegedly made to adult actress Stormy Daniels — “has prejudiced President Trump and the public by interfering with his presidential campaign.”
In his response, Bragg hit Trump for considering himself different to any other criminal defendant.
"This argument is essentially an attempt to evade criminal responsibility because the defendant is politically powerful," the prosecutor said in an extensive 98-page filing.
The response also dealt with a request made last month by Trump's team that witness Michael Cohen must turn over “all documents and communications regarding the topics below that are stored on any medium under your possession or control, including but not limited to phones (including encrypted messaging applications), tablets, computers, and hard copy," the Daily Beastreported.
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Cohen already had all of his electronics seized by the FBI in early April 2018.
Bragg is calling Trump team's request witness intimidation, and wants the judge in the case to intervene.
Prosecutors argue that Trump is using document-sharing between lawyers to press a personal vendetta against Cohen, who has been the source of a lot of information that hurt Trump and his business.
“Rather than seek specific documents tailored to the determination of defendant's guilt or innocence, the subpoena is a scattershot request for years and years of records that appears designed to ascertain the existence of evidence, fish for impeaching material, circumvent limits on discovery in this criminal case, and serve as discovery for the $500 million civil damages lawsuit defendant has promised to re-file against Cohen,” wrote counsel Matthew Colangelo in the brief.
"Defendant is alleged to have lied in New York business records over and over to conceal the truth about his involvement in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election," prosecutors wrote, claiming the Daniels payments were meant to keep her quiet about an alleged affair as Trump sought election.
Cohen has spent time in prison for making the payments, which he said was done at Trump's direction.
"This payment was illegal, and Cohen pleaded guilty to making an illegal campaign contribution and served time in prison," the DA's brief notes.
"The subpoena duces tecum, filed by Donald, is nothing less than the continuation of his abusive use of the Courts and his relentless pursuit of harassment and intimidation against me," Cohen said in a statement to Raw Story. "Along with the District Attorney, my counsel Danya Perry, Esquire, will be filing a motion to quash which we expect to be granted expeditiously. Donald and his counsel need to be sanctioned and fined for their, yet again, frivolous motion.”
Perry told Raw Story in an email that they'll let their motion speak for themselves on the matter.
