Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Interview With Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY)
Interview
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Well, they certainly weren't saying that when Alvin Bragg a year ago decided to go against the recommendation of his very experienced prosecutors and not indict Donald Trump. But what they're trying to basically do is pick and choose what they view as political and what they view as reasonable and following the law, and that basically comes down to whatever the outcome is, as it relates to Donald Trump.
It's very clear they're doing the bidding of Donald Trump and trying to undermine this investigation, even to the point of potentially obstructing it.
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Well, when you look at the threats, when you look at the accusations, and when you look at the inflammatory language in that letter, in particular. It is very clear that they are trying to influence, put it that way,
Alvin Bragg in some way and influencing a prosecutorial decision or witness testimony or otherwise, can be obstruction of justice.
Now, I don't -- I'm not saying that they have committed a crime here. But I think what is very clear, is that they are trying to interfere and influence this investigation without knowing the facts and without knowing the evidence. And essentially, they're trying to put Donald Trump above the law and that is antithetical to our fundamental rule of law, which is that our government is one of laws, not men.
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Well, look, I think if you look at the actual facts, and you went through some of that in your opening, Donald Trump used a home equity loan taken out by Michael Cohen to pay $130,000.00 to a porn star three weeks before the election to silence a decade-old affair.
He was then reimbursed by falsifying the rationale through the Trump Organization. It was clear that Donald Trump was trying to avoid having this become public and a political liability before his election. For a variety of reasons, the Southern District of New York, the Federal prosecutor did not charge this case, and so now, it is really up to Mr. Bragg to determine whether or not he thinks that it should be, though that fact pattern should be charged in State Court where the law is not as clear on campaign finance fraud as it is federally.
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I would agree with that. I think the fact that Donald Trump conspired with a number of others to overturn the 2020 election is far more serious than the conduct here. That doesn't mean that because it's more serious that this conduct is not serious, but that is a fundamental effort to overturn our democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.
And that investigation by the Special Counsel to me is far and away the most serious and the most concerning from, you know, any American citizen that's viewing this.
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That's really up to Mr. Bragg. I don't know the evidence here. I know that there is a process that Donald Trump can use to challenge this charge legally or factually, that there are 12 jurors that need to be unanimous to find his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and I wish that my Republican colleagues would focus on the process that is laid out and has been in existence for 250 years to let a defendant like Donald Trump make his defense if he wants to, rather than make these accusations and allegations and try to undermine this investigation.
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Thank you, John.
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