On Tuesday, CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Pérez stated that he was expecting “a lot more” from the indictment from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg against former President Donald Trump and “we don’t have” “exactly how they’re tying it to a second crime,” Perez also stated that people inside the Department of Justice were “a little bit underwhelmed by the facts they saw” and noted that much of Bragg’s case was looked at by federal prosecutors, who opted not to prosecute.
Pérez said, “I think, like you, we were certainly expecting a lot more of a narrative from the prosecutors and the District Attorney there of the legal theory of this case, and what we don’t have is exactly how they’re tying it to a second crime, which makes it a felony.”
Host Anderson Cooper then asked, “I’m wondering if you’re hearing from any sources within the Justice Department about their reaction to the indictment today.”
Pérez responded, “I think, like us, Anderson, I think there was a lot of consternation that there wasn’t more here to be seen. Again, they are not privy to the evidence that the District Attorney has, certainly, for the presentation of this case. A lot of this stuff, of course, is what federal prosecutors in New York had looked at, Anderson, they had chosen not to bring a case against Donald Trump, based on many of the things that you saw today. It is possible that, again, Alvin Bragg has facts that violate — that show a violation of state law that, of course, the feds would not have looked at. So, again, they’re not privy to everything here, but they’re, like us, I think a little bit underwhelmed by the facts they saw presented.”
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