Fox News analyst Gregg Jarrett accused prosecutors working for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of using an approach that led to the 2020 rape conviction against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein being overturned.
The New York Court of Appeals ruled in a 4-3 decision Thursday that the judge overseeing the trial mistakenly allowed testimonies from women not involved in the 2020 case and that the “remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.” Jarrett said testimony in the first week of former President Donald Trump’s trial did not touch on the charges that he is facing. (RELATED: ‘Hillary Clinton Did … The Same Thing’: Fox Legal Analyst Says Trump Hush Money Case Held To ‘Different’ Standard)
“Nothing in the courtroom last week dealt with the actual charges, none of the witnesses actually testified about any relevant crime recognized by law,” Jarrett told “Fox and Friends” co-host Steve Doocy. “Instead, it was sort of this weird kabuki theater or theater of the absurd, Steve. I mean, David Pecker who ran the National Enquirer, was on the witness stand most of the week, and told us what we already knew. The tabloid was sleazy, promoting and killing stories.”
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“But, Steve, that’s not a crime. Paying people for their silence is not a crime. Influencing an election is not a crime, either. That’s what campaigns are designed to do,” Jarrett continued. “Yet, Alvin Bragg’s legal minions in court keep using the words ‘conspiracy’ and ‘fraud.’ Well, Trump hasn’t been charged with that, so this hair brain prosecution is exactly what Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch warned about during the immunity hearing last week.”
Bragg secured an indictment against Trump for 34 counts of falsifying business records in March 2023, in a case centered around a $130,000 payout to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 that was part of a confidentiality agreement. Jarrett said that the discussion of Trump’s alleged affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal was “irrelevant” to that case.
“It was the introduction of similar bad acts, which is exactly what led to the reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s sex crime cases, and yet this judge is allowing that sort of evidence,” Jarrett told Doocy. “The goofiest part of this prosecution is that Bragg claims Trump falsified private business records to influence an election.” (RELATED: ‘Not Allowed To Respond’: Turley Blasts Gag Order, Says Witness ‘Campaigning’ Against Trump)
“But look at the indictment: All of the alleged bookkeeping offenses happened in 2017, after the 2016 election. It’s a pretty neat trick to unlawfully influence an election after it occurred,” Jarrett concluded.
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