WHEN MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY Alvin Bragg indicted Donald Trump last April, the case drew some derision. Prosecuting a former President over hush money payments to a porn star seemed trivial, critics said, and relied on a legal technicality to bump the charges up to felonies. Given that three other cases were targeting Trump for trying to overthrow the 2020 election and refusing to return national-security secrets, Bragg's case, the first criminal indictment of a former President in U.S. history, seemed like weak sauce.
But after nine months and 91 felony charges in four courts, the New York case has become less of an afterthought. In fact, it might end up being the main show. Bragg, more than special prosecutor Jack Smith or Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, maybe the best positioned to secure a felony conviction of Trump before the election.
New York State Judge Juan Merchan recently cleared the way for jury selection to begin on March 25 and said the trial could last for six weeks, setting up a possible verdict in May. If convicted, Trump could face up to four years in prison.
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