Trump's Strange "Revelation" - Manhattan Criminal Case "Dropped"

WASHINGTON - March 26, 2023 - PRLog -- Donald Trump has made strange statements about his possible indictment in Manhattan, claiming that "they've already dropped the case, from what I understand," and "the case is over."

But regardless of the veracity of this claim or prediction, it seems a strange one for the former president to raise, suggests public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

The law professor, who filed the criminal complaint which triggered the criminal investigation of Trump in Georgia, had also previously provided a legal analysis of the Bragg's criminal case, and concluded it was the weakest of the four possible indictments against Trump.

As reported: "Manhattan's has been called a zombie' case against Trump because it has been stumbling alone for some 7 years, notes Banzhaf, who also played a role in obtaining special prosecutors for former president Richard Nixon, and for finally bringing former Vice President Spiro Agnew to justice."

Trump's new statement that the Manhattan case has been "dropped" and "the case is over" is quite strange for at least two reasons, says the activist law professor.

First, although Bragg is, in an ideal world, supposed to base all his decisions on a dispassionate determination of the law, he is of course human, and also a politician.

For those reasons, Trump's statement is likely to anger him, and make him more likely to prosecute if the decision is a close one. Bragg certainly would not want to become known as the chickensh*t prosecutor who backed down.

Considering the "optics" of suddenly appearing to back down, Bragg is more likely to plow ahead even with a case he might believe is weak.

Second, many media reports claim that Trump has been enjoying amazing fundraising success from his claim that he was about to be indicted in Manhattan.  His supporters, as well as those who might simply fear civil unrest if it occurred, were sending their hard earned money to Trump because he claimed that his arrest was imminent.

If he now convinces most of these people that "they've already dropped the case" and that "the case is over," these two strong incentives to send him money disappear, and he may not actually face a new legal threat, from which he can raise more money, for weeks if not months, and possibly even never.

Therefore, says Banzhaf, it would be strange to admit that this threat - the "villain" in fundraising parlance - now longer exists, and thereby give up a prime argument for people to urgently send him all the money they can.

So this latest pair of statements is strange, even by Trumpian standards, suggests Prof Banzhaf.

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf