The sentencing of former (and future) President Donald J. Trump in a Manhattan courtroom on Friday was the culmination of a titanic legal saga that tested, and arguably rent, the legal and political structure of the United States. But while one might have expected that such a struggle would conclude with a roar, it instead ended with a quiet whimper. It didn’t have to be that way.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had revived the election interference case against Trump after first nearly killing it himself. Originating under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, the case arose from Trump having paid the adult film actress Stormy Daniels money to stay silent about their sexual encounter so as not to damage his 2016 presidential campaign.
When Vance left office in November 2021, an investigation was well underway and a grand jury empaneled. But when Bragg took office, he appeared to decide against charging Trump—a decision that cost him the resignation of two top prosecutors (at least one of whom openly revealed that his resignation was over Bragg’s hesitancy).
Read more at The Daily Beast.
