District Attorney Alvin Bragg
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The former chief adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and her son officially turned themselves in to face bribery charges.
On Thursday morning (December 19), Ingrid Lewis-Martin turned herself in to face corruption and bribery charges. She and her son, Glenn Martin II, were seen heading into the lower Manhattan offices of District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Lewis-Martin was the chief adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but she resigned abruptly on Sunday, citing a wish to spend more time with her family.
The charges of bribery facing Lewis-Martin include her son being given a $100,000 loan to purchase a Porsche by two businessmen after she allegedly helped them resolve an issue they encountered with the city’s Department of Buildings while undergoing construction on a hotel property they owned. A lawyer for one of the businessmen, Mayank Dwivedi, said that his client had committed no wrongdoing. Martin, 38, is a professional DJ who has gained prominence working several events through the years thanks to his mother and Adams, including events at Brooklyn Borough Hall and at City Hall. Going by the name of “Suave Luciano”, he also performed as part of the city’s “Rise Up” concert series in 2022.
Lewis-Martin’s reporting to the district attorney’s office makes her the highest-ranking city official out of a dozen to date to face charges since Mayor Adams was himself indicted on federal corruption charges in September. “I’m being falsely accused of something,” she said in a press conference. “I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that I was told that it’s something that’s illegal, and I have never done anything illegal in my capacity in government.” The 63-year-old politician has been a staunch ally to Mayor Adams for decades, remarking that she is his “sister ordained by God.” A press conference by the D.A.’s office is set for Thursday afternoon.
The situation takes place during a week that has seen Mayor Adams undergo difficulties related to his case. On Monday (December 16), the city’s campaign finance board denied his re-election campaign $4.3 million in public funding. The following day, his request to move his April 2025 trial date up was denied by a federal judge.
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Luigi Mangione, the suspected shooter of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was charged with terrorism for the act by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan, was charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism among the 11 counts in the indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bragg announced the indictment alongside New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press conference Tuesday (Dec. 17). “This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” he said. “It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatened the safety of local residents and tourists alike, commuters and businesspeople just starting out on their day.”
Thompson, 50, was shot at point-blank range reportedly by Mangione outside of a hotel on the morning of Dec. 4. The 26-year-old Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a manhunt that captured the attention of Americans who expressed sympathy for him and cheered him on to avoid being captured by law enforcement. Officers on the scene recovered a 3D printed weapon that matched the one found at the scene of the shooting, a silencer, and fake IDs along with a letter written by Mangione. “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming,” the letter said according to reports. Many took the moment as an opportunity to express their own frustrations with the American healthcare system and its insurance companies overall.
The charge of terrorism was merited, prosecutors claimed, because Mangione’s actions were “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.” Commissioner Tisch condemned Mangione as well as those who expressed support for him. “We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone, and any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless, and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice,” she said at the press conference.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg requested last week that a gag order against Donald Trump remain in place, alluding to the fact several threats have been made against those working on the case. The gag order, which has been in place since April, prevents Trump from issuing threats and attacking witnesses, jurors, court employees, and the relatives of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.
As seen in Mediaite, Alvin Bragg requested the extension on Friday, June 21, pointing to an alarming number of threats — 56 to be exact according to a New York Times report — and this comes as Trump is attempting to have the gag order lifted as he continues his presidential campaign.
Bragg and other prosecutors added that while Justice Merchan would not need to enforce the order for witnesses, the other barriers should remain until Trump’s sentencing on July 11. Trump was convicted by a New York jury back in May on 34 felony counts in the hush money trial.
The muzzling of Trump is typically a difficult task as the former president is known for his unfiltered views and bold tone. Trump has had choice words for Bragg, Justice Merchan, and the justice system, citing that his current legal ordeal is politically motivated as he attempts a return to the White House.
Among those threats mentioned above, an employee of Bragg’s office was doxxed with their home address getting leaked online, and two other individuals connected to the case faced bomb threats. Beyond those instances, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has seen a deluge of emails and phone calls levying all manner of threats.
Trump is stating that the gag order violates his right to free speech and is hoping to have the order lifted as he continues to appeal to his base ahead of the November election. It hasn’t been reported if Justice Merchan will honor the extension request from DA Alvin Bragg or from Donald Trump to lift the order.
We’ve got some reactions from X below.
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Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his “hush money” trial in New York City in a historic verdict.
On Thursday (May 30), Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony charges by the jury in his trial for illegally influencing the outcome of the 2016 election by paying “hush money” to an adult film star in New York. As the jury foreperson read the verdict, Trump sat stone-faced, staring each member down. The verdict marks the first time a former American president was convicted of a crime. The crowds outside of the courthouse in lower Manhattan were of course divided – Trump supporters jeered the news while counter-protesters cheered loudly, with some chanting “Lock him up!”
The guilty verdict was reached by the jury after what some observers considered was a short time for deliberation. Trump had been accused of falsifying records to hide a $130,000 payment to adult star Stormy Daniels via his former fixer, lawyer Michael Cohen. The charges of falsifying records carry a potential prison sentence of four years, but Judge Juan Merchan has not signaled that he would impose such a punishment even if the prosecution requests it. The sentencing was set for July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Trump’s conviction will not prevent him from campaigning to return to the White House, and his legal team has stated that they would appeal. However, if he were to become president again he couldn’t pardon himself as this was a state case.
Trump’s conviction in the case is also significant as this case was considered the most convoluted as the other trials – local and federal cases in Washington D.C. and Atlanta alleging his interference with the 2020 presidential election results as well as a federal indictment case claiming he hoarded highly-classified documents in Florida – are stalled and won’t go to trial before the Nov. 5 election.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump told reporters after leaving the courtroom, somewhat less boisterous than in previous post-trial appearances. “The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people. They know what happened, and everyone knows what happened here.” At a press conference held later that evening, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg offered brief remarks. Acknowledging the barrage of criticism his office has faced from Trump supporters, he stated that the “only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken.”
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The sentencing of Jonathan Majors has been moved up to April, with the potential of one year in jail for the actor looming as a possibility.
On Tuesday (Feb. 6), Judge Michael Gaffey informed the legal team defending actor Jonathan Majors and the prosecution that he expects Majors to be present in court April 8 to hear his sentence, Deadline reported. Majors was convicted Dec. 18, 2023, on the charges of reckless assault and harassment of his former girlfriend, Grace Jabbari.
The Creed III actor, originally slated to appear in person, appeared virtually in court. The delay in the sentencing was due to the defense filing a motion to set aside the verdict. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has until March 5 to respond to the motion, known as a “330.30 motion,” referencing New York State criminal law. It’s considered a long-shot filing by legal observers.
The motion, which consists of 41 pages, was made public Wednesday (Feb. 9), according to Business Insider. In it, the actor is seeking for the verdict to be put aside citing two factors: a lack of sufficient evidence concerning the reckless assault and harassment charges and a reversible judicial error with regards to the charge of reckless assault.
Priya Chaudhry, Majors’ lead defense attorney, claims that prosecutors “bookended the trial with loud accusations of a deliberate pattern of intentional bad conduct by Mr. Majors,” also claiming that Judge Gaffney improperly gave jurors a choice of charging that Majors injured Jabbari intentionally or recklessly.
A spokesperson for Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg sent a statement to the press, saying: “The Court has already heard and rejected the arguments supporting this motion when the defense originally raised them during the trial. The jury then convicted Mr. Majors of Assault in the 3rd Degree and Harassment in the 2nd Degree. We will respond in detail in court papers.”
The once highly sought-after actor, who was fired by Marvel as the face of Kang the Conqueror after the verdict came down, faces one year in prison for the charges. Judge Gaffney said that he intended to make a ruling on the case by April 1 before adjourning.
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Justice arrived for two New York City men who had their names cleared after being falsely convicted of murder and jailed.
On Monday (November 27), the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked judges to vacate the convictions of two men, Wayne Gardine and Jabar Walker. Both cases were found to have gotten convictions on the two men due to suspicious police work and witnesses who were found to have lied after the cases were investigated again by the Innocence Project and the Legal Aid Society, respectively.
The cases were linked to the notorious 30th Precinct in Harlem, which was previously so rife with corruption in the 1990s that it became known as the “Dirty 30.” Walker was arrested after a witness (who later recanted claiming police pressure) claimed he fatally shot two men in 1994 and offered a plea deal by then-Manhattan DA Bob Morgenthau. Walker would turn it down citing his innocence and would be sentenced to 50 years in 1998. Gardine was also sentenced in 1994 after two witnesses claimed he murdered someone – one of the witnesses would confess later that he was pressured to lie by his boss, who was friends with the victim. The 49-year-old Gardine would serve 28 years of his sentence before coming up for deportation back to his native Jamaica.
The two cases came under the purview of the Post-Conviction Justice Unit launched by Bragg since he took office last year. Since its creation, over 500 cases have been vacated, with the majority being tied to police misconduct. It’s also compelled other city district attorneys to put together similar units. The legal teams for Walker and Gardine had no comment on whether both men intended to file civil lawsuits over their unjust convictions.
The 51-year-old Walker was present in the Manhattan courtroom when the decision was announced, shedding a tear. “I’m trying to process it right now,” Walker said to the press afterward, surrounded by his parents and family. “It feels real good to be out.” Gardine heard of his conviction being vacated through video conferencing while still in federal immigration detention in New Jersey. “It’s a horrible position to put someone in who has been wrongfully convicted. He spent nearly 30 years behind bars, and he’s still not free. It’s a very bittersweet ending to this story,” said Lou Fox, a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society’s Wrongful Conviction Unit.
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Political allies of former President Donald Trump have begun attacking New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg by making false claims about his ties to political donor George Soros.
As the former president is facing an indictment from a grand jury convened by the Manhattan District Attorney, Republican politicians have initiated a stream of attacks following his lead against Bragg on social media. In a post on his TruthSocial network on Monday (March 20th), he wrote: “Alvin Bragg received in EXCESS OF ONE MILLION DOLLARS from the Radical Left Enemy of ‘TRUMP,’ George Soros.”
The attack was echoed by other right-wingers such as J.D. Vance, the freshman senator from Ohio who has been an ardent Trump supporter over the past year despite prior misgivings. Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio has expressed a desire to have Bragg testify before a House committee about the investigation.
There is a link between the district attorney and Soros, who has been attacked for years by right-wing politicians and conspiracy theorists for his donations to Democratic candidates with many noting these attacks based on antisemitism as the Hungarian-born billionaire is Jewish. But an examination of campaign records shows no impropriety.
The connection dates back to when Bragg first campaigned to be district attorney. He was endorsed by the progressive criminal justice group Color of Change in 2021. The group intended to spend $1 million on voter turnout efforts for him and did not directly contribute to his campaign. Soros would donate that amount to Color of Change in May of that year, one of a number of donations that he made personally and through his Democracy PAC political action committee. Color of Change would ultimately spend $500,000 in contributions backing Bragg’s campaign, 11 percent of its $4.6 million spent during that campaign year.
“George Soros and Alvin Bragg have never met in person or spoken by telephone, email, Zoom, etc.,” Mr. Vachon said. “There has been no contact between the two.” It is noted that his son, Jonathan, and his wife did donate $20,000 to Bragg’s campaign directly before Bragg won the Democratic primary for the D.A.’s office in 2021.
Despite those facts, GOP politicians aren’t letting up in their attacks on Bragg. Color of Change President Rashad Robinson highlighted the racism and anti-semitism behind those smears in a thread on his Twitter account. “Make no mistake, over the next couple of days as more news about potential consequences for Trump circulates, we will see a flood of anti-Black and anti-Semitic attacks from the former President and his supporters and enablers,” he wrote last weekend.
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As former president Donald Trump is facing the strong possibility of being indicted, three Black prosecutors are notably at the forefront of the fight to hold him accountable for his misdeeds.
On Saturday morning (March 18), Trump declared on social media that he would be indicted as early as Tuesday (March 20), referring to the grand jury being convened in New York investigating his hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels as a violation of election law. His words placed a huge spotlight on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is overseeing the case. Bragg is one of three Black lawmakers, recently spotlighted by Capital B News, who stand out for their efforts to have the former president answer for a slew of alleged crimes.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been steadfast in filing cases through her office against the policies of Trump’s administration. Her office filed a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization last September. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office have also dominated national coverage as they are weighing an indictment against Trump and his cronies for attempting to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden in Georgia during the 2020 election. Her meticulous investigation has led observers to speculate that a decision is expected within the next few weeks, and a grand jury has already recommended multiple indictments for his allies.
Each prosecutor carries a long and robust career as well as a reputation for being tough as nails. Their work has earned them the ire of Republicans on the state and federal levels. GOP legislators in Georgia introduced a bill earlier this year that would create a committee to discipline elected local prosecutors or force them out. “I’m tired, and I’m just going to call it how I see it,” Willis said of the bill, noting that the number of minority prosecutors in Georgia went from five to 14 in 2020. “I, quite frankly, think the legislation is racist. I don’t know what other thing to call it.”
Bragg has been severely criticized for his policies since taking office, which are in tune with the movement for more progressive and ethical reform of the criminal justice system. Trump has repeatedly demonized Bragg, calling for his arrest. Bragg has remained silent publicly, but in an internal memo said that his office “will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly.” And James has also been under fire for her investigations into Trump and his affairs with Eric Trump calling her “the most corrupt attorney general in New York History” and “an embarrassment to prosecutors across this country.”
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