ABOVE: Former President Trump in court at the first day of his New York ‘hush money’ trial, April 15, 2024. PHOTO: Jabin Botsford/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK

‘Trump is facing a coordinated effort by a plethora of partisans across the country to bankrupt, imprison and destroy him. Bragg is a disgraceful, left-wing hack who should have been tossed out of office a long time ago.‘

By former (2015-23) NY Congressman Lee Zelden, for The New York Post

Americans from all walks of life agree upon one hard truth: New York City isn’t what it used to be.

It’s become the epitome of failed far-left policies pushing residents to flee every day.

In Times Square, two NYPD officers were beaten by a group of criminal aliens who were released from jail with no bail.

Our subways have turned into an underground-crime system where innocent people commuting to work fear getting randomly pushed into oncoming trains.

And let’s not forget the countless women sucker-punched lately in broad daylight.

Too many children remain trapped in the cycle of multigenerational poverty, stuck in poorly performing public schools.

Businesses are shuttering, homeowners are unable to defend their property from squatters, and the cost of living continues to rise while quality of life deteriorates by the day.

The Big Apple is becoming rotten, poisoned by far-left elected officials pushing a radical pro-criminal, anti-business and anti-taxpayer agenda.

Instead of leading with courage to defend New Yorkers by enacting the necessary changes to make life safer, freer and more affordable, our elected officials have set their sights elsewhere —  trying to imprison and bankrupt President Biden’s chief political opponent, Donald Trump.

For the next six weeks, all eyes will be on 100 Centre Street, where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has launched his show trial in the world’s media capital.

He’s eagerly doing his party’s bidding by prosecuting Trump, using an obscure legal tactic to yield a campaign talking point.

Never before has a charge like this been brought without evidence of an underlying crime — Bragg refuses even to identify one.

This unprecedented abuse of power and prosecutorial overreach is nothing less than a threat to democracy.

Bragg single-handedly turned countless law-abiding New Yorkers into crime victims with his blatant refusal to enforce the law.

He campaigned on taking down Donald Trump with no idea what the charge could even be.

The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, is a left-wing Biden-Harris 2020 campaign donor.

Merchan refuses to recuse himself despite overwhelming evidence of bias against the former president.

Couple that with the fact his daughter is a prominent Democrat operative actively using this case to fundraise for Adam Schiff; her past clients include Biden-Harris and Chuck Schumer.

After Trump called this out, Merchan issued an oppressive gag order, stripping the former president of his First Amendment right to defend himself against false charges.

On top of it all, the trial is being held in one of America’s most liberal bastions.

Good luck finding an “impartial jury of peers” in Manhattan.

Trump is facing a coordinated effort by a plethora of partisans across the country to bankrupt, imprison and destroy him.

Officials in some states have sought to block him from the ballot altogether in their biggest threat to democracy, trying to deny Americans the right to choose for themselves who to elect their next president.

On the top issues of the day, Democrats are telling voters not to believe their own eyes.

“Rising crime is just a perception,” “The economy has never been stronger,” and “The border is secure,” they say when, in reality, we know none of it is true.

Instead of changing its policies, the Democratic machine has resorted to lawfare because it knows it can’t win on the issues.

On the flip side, Trump is not only standing up to these political prosecutions; he is relentlessly campaigning across the country, hearing directly from fellow Americans about the things that matter most to them.

This moment presents a major opportunity to earn support from longtime Democratic voters ready to abandon blind partisan loyalties. ##