Personality

Who is Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor who might charge Donald Trump?

Here’s what you need to know about the man vying to take a legal shot at former President Donald Trump.

Here’s what you should know about the prosecutor who could be the first to bring criminal charges against a former president.

Here’s what you should know about the prosecutor who could be the first to bring criminal charges against a former president. Alvin Bragg, Flickr

By Shantel Destra

|

A little over a year ago, Alvin Bragg made history as the first African American to be elected as New York County District Attorney. While the 49-year-old district attorney’s political career has been full of ups and downs, his office’s possible indictment against former President Donald Trump may define the rest of Bragg’s career.

Here’s what you should know about the prosecutor who could be the first to bring criminal charges against a former president: 

He’s focused on white-collar crime

Before taking the helm of the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Bragg spent much of his career focusing on white-collar crime and civil rights issues. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Bragg clerked for federal judge Robert P. Patterson Jr. and then worked in the state attorney general’s office. As Chief Deputy Attorney General, he worked on investigations of Harvey Weinstein and the New York City Police Department’s controversial stop-and-frisk policies. He was also influential in the attorney general office’s successful lawsuit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation – which ended with the disgraced charity paying more than $2 million in damages. After becoming district attorney, he led the prosecution of former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon for an alleged fraudulent fundraising scheme.

He believes in criminal justice reform

Bragg ran for district attorney as a criminal justice reformer and has tried to move the Manhattan DA office in a more progressive direction – which has sparked outrage from both Republicans and moderate Democrats concerned about crime. Shortly after assuming office, Bragg released a memo instructing prosecutors to only seek jail time for the most serious felonies – such as murder, sexual assault and crimes involving large amounts of money. After weeks of criticism, Bragg rescinded the memo and clarified his position on crime. But many of his critics – especially Republican elected officials – have not forgotten his attempts to put fewer people in jail for lower-level offenses. When then-Rep. Lee Zeldin unsuccessfully ran for governor last year, he promised that he would remove Bragg as district attorney on his first day in office.

He abandoned an earlier Trump investigation 

The investigation into Trump by the Manhattan district attorney’s office predates Bragg and started with Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr. The former district attorney fought tooth and nail to obtain Trump’s tax records and the court case even made it to the Supreme Court – which ultimately sided with Vance – and charges were brought against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer. After winning the 2021 election, all eyes were on newly-elected Bragg to see if he would follow up on Vance’s investigation into the Trump Organization and finally bring criminal charges against Trump himself. But the newly-elected DA demurred. After Bragg nixed the investigation into Trump’s alleged tax shenanigans, two veteran prosecutors who had been involved in the investigation resigned from the district attorney’s office and publicly criticized Bragg’s decision.

He’s finally ready to charge Trump

Throughout the past year, there’s been speculation about whether or not Bragg will actually bring criminal charges against Trump. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has convened a grand jury to look into allegations that the former president broke the law by concealing alleged hush money payments that Trump and his associates made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. In recent weeks, several associates of Trump – including his former lawyer Michael Cohen – have been asked to testify in front of the grand jury. Even Trump has been invited to testify – a strong sign that prosecutors really do plan to arrest him. Observers – and even Trump – now suspect Bragg will move forward with formally charging the former President as early as Monday evening. The move would make Trump the first president to ever be charged with a crime.

New york Case Studies
Powered By
Browse The Atlas full case study database or read more case studies about New york.
Natural gas alarm system enhances public safety, quickens emergency response
New York, NY
New York City Initiates $1.5 Billion Flood Resilience Project after Hurricane Sandy
Manhattan, New York, NY
Technical Upskilling Program Transformed Modernization Projects in NYC Schools
New York, NY
BROWSE LOCAL GOV CASE STUDIES

NEXT STORY: Mark Levine talks housing, casinos and the scourge of sidewalk sheds

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.