Alvin Bragg Won

Alvin Bragg won. He triumphed. He conquered. He emerged victorious. Love Trump or hate Trump, there is little to be gained by pretending otherwise. Like gravity or potassium or the Alps, Bragg’s achievement is now a fact.

How else might one characterize the events of the last few years? In 2022, having strongly implied that he would use his office to target Donald Trump, Bragg easily won election as the new Manhattan DA. After a brief loss of nerve, during which he temporarily shut down his preordained investigation, the news that Donald Trump intended to run for president for a third time inspired Bragg to go for broke. From there on out, he prevailed in every way. First, Bragg contrived a legal argument that, while capricious and absurd, allowed him to get past every single one of the hurdles that he faced, be it the lack of a felony, the statute of limitations, the jurisdictional challenge, or the chronological problem that is inherent in accusing someone of taking an action in 2017 to effect an outcome in 2016; next, he got that legal argument past a complaisant judge; and, finally, he persuaded a jury to go along with him. That none of this should have happened is immaterial, as is the high chance that the whole kit and caboodle will be overturned on appeal. Bragg set out to twist the law into the words “Donald Trump is a convicted felon,” and he succeeded in that endeavor.

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About the Author

Charles C. W. Cooke

Charles C. W. Cooke is a senior editor at National Review and the host of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast.

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Alvin Bragg won. He triumphed. He conquered. He emerged victorious. Love Trump or hate Trump, there is little to be gained by pretending otherwise. Like gravity or potassium or the Alps, Bragg’s achievement is now a fact.

How else might one characterize the events of the last few years? In 2022, having strongly implied that he would use his office to target Donald Trump, Bragg easily won election as the new Manhattan DA. After a brief loss of nerve, during which he temporarily shut down his preordained investigation, the news that Donald Trump intended to run for president for a third time inspired Bragg to go for broke. From there on out, he prevailed in every way. First, Bragg contrived a legal argument that, while capricious and absurd, allowed him to get past every single one of the hurdles that he faced, be it the lack of a felony, the statute of limitations, the jurisdictional challenge, or the chronological problem that is inherent in accusing someone of taking an action in 2017 to effect an outcome in 2016; next, he got that legal argument past a complaisant judge; and, finally, he persuaded a jury to go along with him. That none of this should have happened is immaterial, as is the high chance that the whole kit and caboodle will be overturned on appeal. Bragg set out to twist the law into the words “Donald Trump is a convicted felon,” and he succeeded in that endeavor.