Monday election interference thread: The beginning of justice

Good morning, Barflies.

This is Alvin Bragg. He is the district attorney for New York County, better known colloquially as the Manhattan DA. (No, sorry, the Manhattan DA is not Jack McCoy.) He is also the man who is going to convict Donald Trump first.

The Stormy Daniels/hush money/electoral fraud case has been wending its way through the district attorney's office since the time of his predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr. DA Bragg inherited the case. A huge cry of dismay went up from many of us when, at the beginning of his tenure, it seemed as if Mr. Bragg had dropped it. Teeth were gnashed, hair was torn out, and garments were rent. "Trump gets away with everything!!!"

However, the reports of the case's demise were premature by half. Mr. Bragg had never dropped it; he merely kept working on it, until he had enough evidence to charge Trump with dozens of indictments.

Of course, Trump's sycophants went into overdrive. "He was trying to protect his wife!" "It was all Michael Cohen's (his one-time consigliere's) fault!" "This isn't a crime!"

Oh, but it is a crime.

Trump's unfortunate dalliance with Ms. Daniels took place eighteen years ago, while his wife Melania had just given birth to his youngest son. That was 2006. He didn't make the payment until 2016, in the heat of the election. So, for ten years he felt no need to "protect his family", but suddenly felt the need to do so while he was running for the presidency? That is to laugh.

Trump cares nothing for anyone. Not any of his wives. Not any of his children. Not any of his benighted followers. Trump cares only for Donald J. Trump. He wasn't going to let anything interfere with him grabbing the presidency. This affair would have been a detriment to his goals. So, he made the problem go away, both with money and with threats. As any mob boss would.

Sadly, he decided to fuck over the guy who held his secrets, Michael Cohen. When Mr. Cohen was nabbed by the Department of Justice, Trump left him out to hang. While his longtime accountant Allen Weisselberg has remained loyal even though he suffered a similar fate, Mr. Cohen was having none of it. He went from a laughable Trump surrogate to one of his most noisome enemies. And he, along with Ms. Daniels, will testify at the upcoming trial.

This trial will not be like the civil cases he has lost. You don't have to be present every day at a civil case. But you do at a criminal trial. Every day the news will lead with Trump in the dock. His secrets will all be revealed. And the images will be of a man made impotent, unable to lash out, sitting at the defense table sullenly as witness after witness skewers him. He will not be the master of his fate. New Yorkers who have no love for him will be his judges. 

Make no mistake: This case matters. It's not some sordid little affair. He corruptly acted to protect his political career. That is a crime. And he will be found guilty. This is the break in the dam. No one more deserves it.

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