Fact Check: Manhattan DA Bragg's Promise to Not Seek Prison Sentences

Much of Donald Trump's indictment by a grand jury in New York remains a mystery as the charges against the former president are under seal.

Trump, the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted, faces questions as to whether the $130,000 payment he allegedly authorized his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to give to adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she and the former president had a secret ahead of the 2016 election amounted to a campaign violation.

With the details of the charges yet to be revealed, some have speculated whether Trump could face time behind bars and whether Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg would seek prison time.

The Claim

A tweet by author Michael Shellenberger, posted on March 31, 2023 and already viewed 92,000 times, claimed that Bragg previously said he would not seek prison sentences for crimes "other than for homicide or other major crimes."

"Whatever you think of Trump, it's hard to see this as one," Shellenberger added. "This is how a great nation becomes a banana republic."

The tweet included a link to an article that said: "the District Attorney of New York has promised to "not seek a carceral sentence other than for homicide or other cases involving the death of a victim" or other major or violent crimes, of which paying hush money could not possibly be one."

The Facts

While Bragg has said his office would "not seek a carceral sentence for homicide or other cases involving the death of a victim," there is important context that has been missed here.

In a 2022 document, provided to staff of the New York County District Attorney's Office, Bragg set out a series of procedures and policies, including for dispositions.

Bragg wrote a list of crimes for which a prison sentence could be sought that, in addition to homicide or other cases involving a victim, included a host of offenses such as "public corruption" and "major economic crimes."

Newsweek reached out to the Manhattan DA's office to ask whether "public corruption" and "major economic crimes" served as the grounds for indicting Trump.

The list also includes any attempt to commit any of the offenses listed under Article 110 of the Penal Law, defined by the New York Courts as an incident where "a person intends to commit a crime and engages in conduct which carries his or her purpose forward within dangerous proximity to the completion of the intended crime, he or she is guilty of an attempt to commit that crime. It does not matter that the intended crime was not actually completed."

At face value, with only the judgment of a layman, these could be directly relevant in Trump's case. Newsweek has asked the DA office to clarify.

Further, the procedures also state that the rule around "carceral sentence" could be excepted "only in extraordinary circumstances based on a holistic
analysis of the facts, criminal history, victim's input (particularly in cases of
violence or trauma), and any other information available."

These conditions may or may not have impacted the decision-making surrounding Trump's indictment. Crucially, unlike the impression that Shellenberger makes, the Manhattan DA's office could seek carceral sentences in cases other than homicide.

Trump could be charged with dozens of offenses related to business fraud as part of his historic indictment in the Daniels hush money probe, according to reports.

While the charges Trump faces are unknown while the indictment remains sealed, unnamed sources speaking to CNN said Trump faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud as part of the indictment.

The Ruling

Needs Context.

Homicide and other cases "involving the death of a victim" were not the only crimes that the Manhattan DA's Office said it would aim to seek "carceral sentences."

Among other crimes were "public corruption" and "major economic crimes." The prison sentence policy was subject to a number of other exceptions, including "holistic analysis of the facts."

It is not clear whether the charges Trump faces could lead to a carceral sentence under the exceptions listed by Bragg.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team