Former Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over his focus on potentially prosecuting former President Donald Trump and suggested the move is politically motivated.
“I don’t understand why Bragg is putting such emphasis on this case,” the former governor told WABC Radio on Friday night.
“A person breaks the law I get it, but on the state side this is a misdemeanor case. It’s really a federal case because he needs it to be a campaign finance fraud case which is a federal case and that’s what Bragg is going to have to do to get a felony out of this.”
Cuomo said that the public is generally “cynical” and “when they see prosecutors bringing these political cases” it just “affirms everybody’s cynicism.”
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(L) Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (R) Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)
“I think it’s all politics and that’s what I think the people of this country are saying,” Cuomo continued. “It just feeds that anger and that cynicism and the partisanship. It’s a coincidence that Bragg goes after Trump and Tish James goes after Trump and Georgia goes after Trump? That’s all a coincidence? I think it feeds the cynicism and that’s the cancer in our body politic right now.”
Despite the comments about Bragg’s motivation, Cuomo says he does believe an indictment will be handed down next week while bringing up the old adage that district attorneys can “indict a ham sandwich” if they want to.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg during a press conference in New York on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I’m sure they’ll get an indictment,” Cuomo said.
Bragg has been widely criticized by Republicans for attempting to indict Trump in connection with the alleged “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 that many legal experts have concluded is a weak and politically motivated case.
Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the East Palestine Fire Department in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 22, 2023 (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
Top House Republicans have demanded in the form of a letter that Bragg testify to Congress about the indictment and turn over documents related to the case warning that the indictment could “erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the court of the 2024 presidential election.”
Bragg’s office responded defiantly to that letter saying that “we will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law.”
Bragg sent a letter to the Republicans saying that their inquiry was “an unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty.”
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Republicans pushed back on that letter with another letter on Saturday arguing that their actions have a legislative purpose and noting that Bragg did not deny their accusations that the case is politically motivated.
Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
