Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg gave a rare public speech on former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case, shortly after the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records — but declined to answer reporters' questions about whether he will pursue prison time at sentencing.
"The judge has scheduled a sentencing for July 11th," said Bragg. "We will speak in court in that time. He also set a motion schedule; we will speak in our court filings as we've done throughout this proceeding."
Bragg spent much of his speech and answers thanking the jury for its service, as well as the prosecutors on his team for effectively seeing the case through to its conclusion.
Want more breaking political news? Click for the latest headlines at Raw Story.
ALSO READ: Trump just endorsed this Virginia congressional candidate whose social media isn’t so MAGA
"This type of white-collar prosecution is core to what we do at the Manhattan District Attorney's office," said Bragg, who was also responsible for the criminal fraud case against the Trump Organization. "In the 1930s, District Attorney Thomas Dewey ushered in the era of the modern independent professional prosecutor. For now nearly 90 years, dedicated professionals in his office had built upon that fine tradition; a major part of our practice during that nearly 90 years has been public integrity work, including cases involving jurists, local and state elected, public servants, and others."
Bragg's team argued in court that the $130,000 scheme to conceal hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels amounted to an election interference plot, as it kept voters in the 2016 election from learning about Trump's alleged extramarital affair. Trump maintains his innocence in the case and is all but certain to appeal after sentencing takes place.
Judge Juan Merchan could ultimately sentence Trump to prison, but also could simply issue some combination of probation and fines, sparing him from incarceration.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Alvin Bragg speaks to reporters following Trump's felony conviction www.youtube.com
Recommended Links:
- 'I'm turning on this one': Bill Maher reveals he thinks Trump could lose hush money case
- Rundown: The Trump legal cases to watch in 2024
- 'Likely, yes': Impeachment lawyer swears Trump will be sentenced to prison term
- Alvin Bragg just sent a 'reality check' to witnesses who would lie for Trump: analyst