‘Very Odd’: Turley Explains Why What Alvin Bragg Is Doing Falls In Unchartered Territory

Fox News legal analyst and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley explained Thursday how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is wading into uncharted territory.

New York Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s Manhattan trial to begin March 25th. Trump was indicted by Bragg in April 2023 for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Turley first argued that Trump raised a valid point of whether the case is “selective prosecution.”

“I think this is clearly selective prosecution by Bragg,” Turley said. “I don’t see how you view it any other way. The problem is how do you make that case legally?”

Selective prosecution is when the defendant argues they should not be held liable for allegedly breaking the law because the justice system discriminated against them in choosing to prosecute.

Turley then said the case is “ridiculous.” (RELATED: Star Witness In Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump Used AI To Write Legal Briefs, Cited Fake Court Cases)

“I think it is ridiculous,” Turley said. “[Bragg] is trying too hard. There comes a point when you try too hard and this is that point that what Bragg is doing is bootstrapping of an alleged federal crime and converting it into a state prosecution. That’s a crime that the Department of Justice did not find grounds to prosecute. But Bragg — that didn’t stop Bragg. He is using that claim of a federal election violation, referred to repeatedly, as part of this effort to conceal. So it’s a very odd type of prosecution, even though this provision has been used in past cases, I don’t know of any case like this one that bootstraps a federal offense of that kind.”

Federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York and the Department of Justice did not charge Trump with the aforementioned crimes after an investigation.

Trump has argued the case is politically motivated, calling it a “witch hunt.” Trump alleges Bragg was “hand-picked” by mega-donor George Soros to prosecute him.

Bragg’s campaign reportedly received $1 million from Soros through Color of Change PAC, a left-wing political organization aiming to elect district attorneys who are lenient on crime, Daily Mail reported.

Nearly 22,000 electronic signatures have been collected by a petition to recall Bragg on change.org. Curtis Silwa started the petition, and is described as a “former Mayoral Candidate and Guardian Angels founder” by the petition’s page on the website. However, a recall election cannot take place under current New York State law, according to a June 2022 press release by the New York State Assembly Minority Conference.

“Voters in San Francisco chose to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin for his ineffective, soft-on-crime approach to his job. Unfortunately, New Yorkers currently do not have that option with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as the state Constitution does not provide for recall elections,” the release read in part.