On Tuesday (April 4), former National Security Adviser John Bolton expressed concern that the charges former President Donald Trump is facing are “weaker than I thought.”
Bolton made his comments on CNN after the former President pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to three counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
Trump had been accused by Attorney General Alvin Bragg of “repeatedly and fraudulently” falsifying New York business records to cover up a criminal attempt to withhold “damaging information” from voters during the 2016 presidential election.
Bolton noted that he wasn’t impressed with Bragg’s case against Trump, sharing that given his desire to see Trump lose the GOP presidential nomination, he was “extraordinarily distressed by this document.”
The former National Security Advisor added that Bragg’s charges against Trump were “weaker” than he feared.
Bolton, a graduate of Yale Law School, noted the case could be “easily” dismissed before it goes to trial, adding that the Manhattan District Attorney is completely “wrong” in assuming a New York election law can supersede federal election law.
Bolton explained that the Federal Campaign Act of 1971 is superior to state or local law, querying how Bragg could assert that a federal law regulating corporate finance and presidential elections would be inferior to state laws, given that there would be “50 state laws interfering with [the federal law].”
The former National Security Advisor insisted that Bragg was “wrong on the applicability of the New York statute.”
On Sunday (April 2), Bolton shared similar concerns on CBS, expressing fear that Trump’s Indictment would help the former President politically.
Bolton explained that should the former President be “acquitted,” or think the case was dismissed because it wasn’t legally good, these conclusions would that fuel Trump, as he could insist he faced “political prosecution.”
