Alvin Bragg poised to win Manhattan DA Democratic primary, setting him up to lead probe into Trump Organization
By Sonia Moghe, CNN
Alvin Bragg is set to win the Democratic primary for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, after his top challenger conceded Thursday — setting the former state and federal prosecutor up to eventually lead the investigation into the Trump Organization.
Bragg will likely succeed current district attorney Cyrus Vance, whose term is set to expire at the end of the year, as Manhattan is largely Democratic. He’ll first face Republican Thomas Keniff, a former prosecutor, JAG lawyer, Iraq war veteran and defense attorney in the general election in November.
If he wins the general election, Bragg would become the first Black leader of the prominent prosecutors’ office.
“This has been a long journey that started in Harlem. And today, that 15-year old boy who was stopped numerous times at gunpoint by the police is the Democratic nominee to be Manhattan District Attorney,” Bragg said in a statement to CNN. “We are one step closer to making history and transforming the District Attorney’s office to deliver safety and justice for all.”
According to the New York City Board of Elections, as of June 23, Bragg was leading Tali Farhadian Weinstein with 34% of the vote, while she had 30%. There are nearly 40,000 absentee ballots cast that have not yet been reported.
Farhadian Weinstein said in a statement that she congratulated Bragg on Friday afternoon for his historic win.
“We had important disagreements throughout the campaign, but I am confident in Alvin’s commitment to justice, and I stand ready to support him,” Farhadian Weinstein said.
If Bragg wins the general election in November, he would take the helm of the first criminal case against former President Donald Trump’s company, which was charged Thursday, along with its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, in a 15-count indictment that alleged a scheme to defraud, amongst other charges. The former President himself was not charged.
Bragg has largely remained silent about how he would handle the investigation, but in January told radio show “Ebro in the Morning” he’s prepared to follow the facts in the case.
“I’ve seen him up front and have seen the lawlessness that he can do,” Bragg said in the interview. “I believe we have to hold him accountable. I haven’t seen all the facts beyond the public but I’ve litigated with him and so I’m prepared to go where the facts take me once I see them and hold him accountable.”
Bragg was most recently a New York State Chief Deputy Attorney General where he oversaw the work of both the criminal justice and social justice divisions. He oversaw a lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein and his company that alleged a hostile work environment. While at the attorney general’s office, he helped sued the Trump administration more than 100 times, and led the team that sued the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which resulted in Trump personally paying $2 million to an array of charities and the foundation being dissolved. Bragg is also a former assistant US attorney in the criminal division of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Bragg said in a statement Friday that he is committed to ending racial disparities and mass incarceration, and campaigned not to prosecute low level crimes, something his challenger Kenniff said he disagrees with.
“I look forward to an informed and spirited race where voters will have an opportunity to decide between my public safety-first platform and my opponent’s permissive approach to criminal justice,” Kenniff said in a statement to CNN Friday.
The-CNN-Wire
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