By Lee Zeldin
This case should have never been brought forward in the first place. This political persecution, designed to interfere with the 2024 election, was a disgusting abuse and weaponization of the criminal justice system. This ruling is obviously going to be overturned on appeal, but, for Democrats, this case was never about the merits. This was a coordinated effort by a District Attorney fulfilling a campaign pledge to prosecute Trump without the slightest clue of the possible charge. With the help of the Biden Justice Department, this sham trial was a campaign inside of a campaign to secure a talking point, regardless of how much damage it could cause to our country and criminal justice system.
The Democrats tried their political prosecution in Manhattan, where it would be virtually impossible for President Trump to get a fair jury of his peers. They secured a judge in Juan Merchan who should have been recused due to his clear conflict of interest. Merchan is a Biden-Harris donor who is suspiciously the same guy who presided over a Trump Organization case, the Weisselberg prosecution and Bannon prosecution. On top of it all, his daughter works for a firm actively raising millions of dollars leveraging this case for Democrats across the country. Merchan was totally conflicted, showing bias at every turn, issuing an unconstitutional gag order on the defendant and allowing salacious testimony from a porn star that had nothing to do with the case.
The Department of Justice, Federal Election Commission, and Bragg’s predecessor all previously declined to proceed with these charges. Bragg took this zombie case on, well after the two-year statute of limitations had expired, and elevated 34 misdemeanor counts to felony charges without ever identifying, let alone proving, what underlying crime was committed. The Judge and DA even went as far as telling the jury they can make a conviction by choosing whatever underlying, uncharged crime they want without the jurors even coming up with the same crime or disclosing which laws in the books they use.
There is no greater threat to Democracy than Joe Biden and the Democrats trying to lock up Biden’s chief political opposition for the rest of his life, keep Trump off the campaign trail, bankrupt him and his family, remove him from the November ballot, and deny Americans the right to choose for themselves who they want to elect as their next President. This all serves as a reminder of just how urgent and necessary our victory will be November 5.
Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) represented the Third District in the New York State Senate from 2011 to 2014 and New York’s First Congressional District from 2015 to 2023. He was the Republican nominee for New York Governor in 2022.
