Professor Jonathan Turley, one of the few brave honest liberals in academia, is far too nice a person to speak with utter contempt in his voice. But the substance of what he has to say about the indictment and pending arrest of former President Donald J. Trump exposes contemptible behavior on the part of the New State justice system. In two brief clips from an interview he did Saturday with Molly Line of Fox News, he exposes the flimsiness of the case against Trump and the illicit origin of the indictment. First, how Trump could end up convicted even though the charges are likely to get thrown out on appeal: (rush transcript via Grabien)

LINE: “I just want to get your thoughts on the motivations of prosecutors may have as we look ahead to what could be a pretty interesting week here in Manhattan.”
TURLEY: “Is the ultimate grave digger indictment. They literally dug up a claim, a theory from 2016. A theory that the Department of Justice decided did not work prosecution. And Bragg’s own predecessor, of course, did not bring this case. It is really something that is really painfully obvious as a political prosecution in my view. It is a very weak case legally. This is a misdemeanor under New York law that they hope to convert into a felony. By essentially prosecuting a federal crime the Justice Department declined to bring. In prosecution. That is going to be a hard thing to sell to some judges. But they might succeed. You cannot pick a better jurisdiction for the judges or juries in New York, obviously. This is the nightmare jury pool for Donald Trump. And he has to take this seriously. This is found to be a class c felony. I think the recommended minimum is a year in jail. There are serious risks here. There are also serious flaws in this indictment. I am not entirely sure Bragg did not run out of time. Think their strong arguments to make the statute of limitations ran on this claim.”

Perhaps even more interesting to me, and providing a telling talking point for President Trump, is how DA Bragg (who was elected with a million dollars of support from George Soros funneled through the Color of Change PAC) originally passed on the indictment but was forced into it by a book written by a fired subordinate, that Turley regards as ethically suspect.

(Grabien rush transcript)

LINE: “You talk about time. Why now?”
TURLEY: “Molly, that is the question. Because Bragg himself threw a flag on this play. I mean, he stopped the two prosecutors who were moving toward a trial. They resigned in protest. One of them then wrote a book. In my view, that book was deeply improper and unprofessional. The book was about prosecuting someone who had not been charged, let alone convicted. But it triggered a huge amount of pressure on Bragg. It does appear that it works. He then proceeded to bring this case.”

Photo credit: Grabien screengrab