Here’s What Legal Experts Are Saying About The Trump Indictment

Former President Donald Trump was indicted on Thursday due to a nearly seven-year-old alleged payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Legal experts have commented on the legitimacy of the indictment and its chances in court.

The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office sealed the indictment against Trump, which reportedly contains more than 30 criminal charges against him.

Alan Dershowitz, a famous attorney who represented Trump in his first impeachment trial, suggested that “any first-year student could win this case if the name wasn’t Donald Trump and if it wasn’t in Manhattan.” He also emphasized that the case has to move out of Manhattan, stating that “There’s no possibility he can get a fair trial in Manhattan.”

Scott Greenfield, a New York defense attorney, commented that it is impossible to analyze the indictment’s legitimacy unless it is unsealed. However, if the anticipated indictment is true, Greenfield believes “there are serious doubts the case will survive a motion to dismiss or result in a conviction.”

William A. Jacobson, founder of conservative legal blog Legal Insurrection, expressed a similar hesitation, stating that “unless there is some surprise, this appears to be a politically-motivated legally-questionable resurrection of stale misdemeanor charges bootstrapped into a felony using a highly unusual legal theory.”

Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law and conservative blogger, noted that there are no consequences for Bragg for pressing unfounded charges. Reynolds added that in our polarized nation it would be easy to find “juries hostile to people from the other side.”

Benjamin Wittes, editor-in-chief of Lawfare, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution, encouraged commenters to avoid making triumphant claims or clucking about witch hunts. Lawfare Senior Editor Quinta Jurecic also commented that Bragg previously decided to drop charges, but he has now returned to issue charges against Trump.

George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley highlighted that the Department of Justice declined to prosecute Trump on similar charges in the past, describing Bragg’s actions if that is the case as “rather outrageous” and “legally pathetic.”