Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg commended the jurors who found former President Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, saying Monday evening that they reached their verdict on "the evidence and the law alone."
Further, Bragg asserted that while Trump was "unlike any other [defendant] in American history," the verdict was reached like any other — "following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor."
Bragg made the comments roughly 90 minutes after the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on all counts. He spent the bulk of his 3½-minute remarks thanking the jury and highlighting their efforts.
"Jurors perform a fundamental civic duty. Their service is literally the cornerstone of our judicial system. We should all be thankful for the careful attention that this jury paid to the evidence and the law and their time and commitment over these past several weeks," Bragg said.
"The 12 everyday jurors vowed to make a decision based on the evidence and the law and the evidence and the law alone," Bragg went on. "Their deliberations led them to a unanimous conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Donald J. Trump, is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree to conceal a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election."
"And while this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial, and ultimately today at this verdict, in the same manner as every other case that comes to the courtroom doors — by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor."
Bragg added, "this type of white-collar prosecution is core to what we do at the Manhattan District Attorney's office."
Bragg took only a few questions. In answering one of them, he dismissed the criticism of opting against bringing the case against Trump at first, evading the question about the evolution of the trial.
"I did my job. We did our job. Many voices out there; the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken," he said.