Alvin Bragg’s Case is ‘Finally Getting Real’ for Donald Trump

Reports that Donald Trump will appear in court for a hearing on his falsifying business records trial suggests that the former president is taking the case seriously, a legal expert has said.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance suggested that the trial—in which Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts—has not received as much attention as the three other criminal cases the former president is involved in, arguably because the charges are not as serious and there is no guarantee that a conviction would result in jail time.

On Thursday, Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial currently scheduled to begin on March 25, will consider Trump’s request to drop Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against him.

Bragg’s office accuses Trump of falsifying business records in relation to money he arranged for his former attorney Michael Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal to keep alleged affairs that Trump had with the women a secret ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump is expected to appear in Manhattan state court for the Thursday hearing, where Merchan could announce a decision on the former president’s request to toss out the case, as well as confirm the start date of the trial.

Writing in her Civil Discourse blog, Vance suggested that the fact Trump wanted to attend the hearing in person means he is now putting the New York case at the front of his mind. If Merchan keeps the March 25 trial date in place, it will be the first of the four Trump criminal cases to go before a jury following the postponement of the federal election obstruction trial from its original March 4 date.

“This hearing seems to have caught Trump’s attention—there are multiple reports he intends to be in court in person,” Vance wrote.

“That may suggest this case is finally getting real for the former president.”

Vance added that Bragg’s case is not merely about whether Trump tried to keep the alleged affairs with Daniels and McDougal a secret, but whether he did so as part of a plot to “unlawfully influence” the outcome of the 2016 election, as the claims would have otherwise damaged his chances of winning.

Falsifying business records can be classed as a a felony in New York if there is an “intent to defraud” that includes an intent to “commit another crime or to aid or conceal” a crime. In this case, prosecutors will have to prove that Trump submitted false business records when he listed Cohen’s repayments as “legal fees” to try to hide the payments.

“Had Joe Biden or Barack Obama done this, Republicans wouldn’t be dismissing it as an unimportant recordkeeping error, and it isn’t. Far from that, these are serious felony charges,” Vance said.

Trump’s legal team has been contacted for comment via email.

Trump’s lawyers have called Bragg’s investigation a “zombie case” while noting the D.A.’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., declined to press charges while working on the same allegations against the former president.

“After a five-year meandering, halting, and roving investigation that entailed inexplicable and unconstitutional delay, the District Attorney’s Office filed a discombobulated package of politically motivated charges marred by legal defects,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in October 2023 while trying to dismiss the case.

Vance added that Thursday’s hearing will not have the “sturm and drang,” or turmoil, of Trump’s previous appearances in front of judges but will still be a “uniquely important moment” in American history.

“We’ll get a sense tomorrow [Thursday] of whether the Judge agrees with the DA’s office that conspiring to corrupt a presidential election and then lying in New York business records to cover it up is a serious matter,” Vance said.

“And we may, by the end of tomorrow, have the first firm setting for a criminal trial for Donald Trump.”