Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg exits the courtroom after the jury found the Trump Organization guilty on all counts in a criminal tax fraud case, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in New York. After a challenging first year in office, Manhattan’s district attorney is back in the spotlight with a reinvigorated investigation of former President Donald Trump. AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File
When Alvin Bragg became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney last year, one of his first big decisions was to tap the brakes on an investigation that had been speeding toward a likely criminal case against former President Donald Trump.
The move won him few friends. Exasperated liberals dreaming of Trump in handcuffs threw up their hands. Conservatives gloated that the Democrat’s hesitation to bring a charge was proof Trump had been investigated for political reasons.
A year later, Bragg is shaking up that first impression.
Fresh from winning a conviction against Trump’s family company for tax fraud, Bragg convened a new grand jury last week in a reinvigorated investigation that could lead to the first ever criminal charges against a former U.S. president.
The probe, lately focused on hush money payments made to two women in 2016, is one of several legal challenges Trump faces as he seeks a return to the White House. It is putting Bragg back in the spotlight after a grueling first year in office.
“We’re going to follow the facts and continue to do our job,” Bragg said, speaking broadly about the investigation in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Asked if charging Trump was a real possibility, or if the former president could rest easy, Bragg replied: “I’m not going to tell anyone how to rest.”
Bragg came into office 13 months ago amid what he calls a “perfect storm” of rising crime and political pressure. A Harvard-educated former federal prosecutor, chief deputy state attorney general and civil rights lawyer, he came equipped with legal and…
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