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EDITORIAL: Making a martyr out of a molehill

In this file photo, then-U.S. president Donald Trump delivers an update on the so-called Operation Warp Speed program in an address from the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 2020.
In this file photo, then-U.S. president Donald Trump delivers an update on the so-called Operation Warp Speed program in an address from the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., Nov. 13, 2020. Photo by Carlos Barria/File Photo /REUTERS

Of all the allegations and investigations into wrongdoing against Donald Trump, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg has chosen to make history out of the flimsiest case.

Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury over allegations he paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their affair prior to the 2016 election.

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The two principal witnesses are Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, now a convicted criminal, and Daniels herself. The defence lawyers must be salivating at the opportunity of shredding them and their reputations in court.

While the charges are sealed until after Trump’s arraignment, it’s expected they involve the use of campaign funds to silence Daniels.

This is very thin gruel on which to base the takedown of a former president. A Georgia investigation is probing allegations Trump leaned on elections officials to find extra votes. Last year, FBI agents raided Trump’s Florida home with warrants looking for classified documents that were allegedly removed from the White House after he left office.

Voters understand those are far more serious allegations than the ones concerning Daniels.

What Bragg, a Democrat, has done is unify the Republicans. Even those who oppose Trump are taking his side. Trump spends most of his time in Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis, who’s likely to run against Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, tweeted his support of the former president.

“The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American.” DeSantis went on to say Florida will not assist any request to extradite Trump to New York.

Trump is fundraising off all that outrage and Bragg has done the impossible — turning a shrewd powerbroker into a political martyr. Two weeks ago, Trump called on his supporters to “take our nation back,” leading some to fear there could be violence when he’s arraigned.

“Our nation is now third world and dying,” he said in a social media post. “The American dream is dead.”

That kind of scaremongering is reprehensible, but it’s the kind of hyperbole that fires up Trump and his supporters. And they can thank the Democrats for feeding that narrative and giving oxygen to what a few weeks ago was a near-dead re-election campaign.

  1. Former U.S. President Donald Trump announces he is running for president for the third time as he smiles while speaking at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022.

    KINSELLA: Prosecuting Trump, or any president, doomed to failure

  2. In this file photo taken on May 23, 2018, adult film star Stormy Daniels poses and signs autographs at Chi Chi Larue's adult entertainment store in West Hollywood, Calif.

    Who is Stormy Daniels and what did she say happened with Donald Trump?