Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg spoke after former US President Donald Trump was formally charged Tuesday.
“Under New York State law, it is a crime to falsify business records with intent to defraud and conceal another crime. That’s exactly what this case is about: 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. Those are crimes in New York State,” he said.
“No matter who you are, we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct,” warned Bragg.
The prosecutor added that the former president is being held to the same standard as anyone who has committed a white-collar crime.
“True and accurate business records are important everywhere, that’s for sure. They are even more important in Manhattan – the financial center of the world. That’s why we have a history at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office of dealing with white-collar crime,” he pointed out.
Bragg also pointed out that this office has already “charged with hundreds of crimes of falsifying business records. This accusation, one might say, is the bread and butter of our white-collar work.”
He added that the Trump case at its core “is one with allegations like so many of our white collar cases” and that the former president is not above the law.
Bragg ended his remarks by stating, “Today we uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that all are equal before the law. No amount of money and no amount of power changes this enduring American principle.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Trump pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to 34 criminal counts of first-degree falsification of business records after hearing charges against him stemming from a clandestine payment to an adult film actress in 2016.
Information the prosecution did not have
Prosecutor Alvin Bragg also pointed out during the press conference that his office discovered “additional evidence” that it did not have when he was not in office.
Speaking about the timing of the allegations – and his predecessor’s decision not to press charges against Trump in this case – Bragg said: “I don’t bring cases before a full and rigorous investigation.”
“Now, having done that, the case has been opened. I’ve been doing this for 24 years and I’m familiar with rigorous and complex investigations,” she noted.
Bragg added that New York State, in particular, has a “deep interest” in cases involving misrepresentation because it is the “business capital of the world.”
*published by Tiago Tortella, from CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
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