Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

MSNBC Legal Correspondent Says It’s ‘A Surprise’ How ‘Far’ Alvin Bragg Is Going To Get Judge To Maintain Trump Verdict

Screenshot/Rumble/MSNBC

MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin said Tuesday that it is surprising the extent to which Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is attempting to influence Judge Juan Merchan to uphold President-elect Donald Trump’s guilty verdict.

Bragg on Monday opposed Trump’s motion to dismiss his case while also arguing that Merchan should maintain the jury’s May verdict against the president-elect, according to court documents. Rubin, on “Chris Jansing Reports,” suggested that Bragg’s determination to maintain the verdict was unexpected following Trump’s election victory.

WATCH: 

“It’s not a surprise the Manhattan DA’s office is refusing to dismiss the case, but what is a surprise in these filings today is that in over 80 pages they are telling Judge Merchan, look, the preservation of our verdict is important,” Rubin said. “This is a case largely based on President Trump’s unofficial conduct in office and he is not yet a sitting president. So the efforts by Trump’s lawyers to extend the presidential immunity doctrine to this transition period has no basis in law.”

However, the legal correspondent also noted that Bragg suggested Merchan could adopt an abatement.

“An abatement is not something that New York law recognizes now but it’s essentially what happens when a defendant dies between conviction and sentencing, puts an asterisk next to the conviction, basically removes the presumption of innocence, the defendant is never sentenced and the conviction’s sort of neither affirmed nor reversed on appeal,” she said. “They think that would be an okay solution here and it shows you just how far they’ve gone in an attempt to preserve this jury verdict, which they think is fundamental to the constitutional value of the jury process.”

Bragg indicated on Nov. 19 that he would oppose Trump’s motion to dismiss his case, suggesting Merchan consider postponing remaining proceedings until the president-elect’s term ends in 2029.

“The People deeply respect the Office of the President, are mindful of the demands and obligations of the presidency and acknowledge that Defendant’s inauguration will raise unprecedented legal questions,” prosecutors wrote. “We also deeply respect the fundamental role of the jury in our constitutional system.”

“No current law establishes that a president’s temporary immunity from prosecution requires dismissal of a post-trial criminal proceeding that was initiated at a time when the defendant was not immune from criminal prosecution and that is based on unofficial conduct for which the defendant is also not immune,” the filing continues.

Trump’s conviction was on 34 counts for falsifying business documents to reimburse his former attorney Michael Cohen for a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels.