Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Donald Trump’s attempts this summer to drag his porn star-hush money case away from New York’s state courts and once again hide behind his presidential credentials has given Manhattan prosecutors a little-noticed ace in their pocket—one they can now use to bolster their case.
For months, critics of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.’s case have called it weak because the case criminally charges Trump with faking business records—a lowly misdemeanor only bumped up to a felony on a technicality.
Except that Trump’s ploy to move the case to federal court gave a judge there the opportunity to take the first swing. And he used that opportunity to make it clear that the case against Trump is far more serious than it otherwise seems—and that the burden for proving that Trump’s alleged falsification of business records are felonies is low.