Since it became clear that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg intended to charge Donald Trump with crimes growing out of hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, close observers have wondered how he would frame the offenses and solve the problems that apparently led him to mothball the indictment shortly after he took office. With Tuesday's dramatic arraignment of the former president, Bragg revealed his hand — except, in important ways, he didn't.
The indictment itself is about the least it could be — basically a recitation of 34 counts of falsifying business records that vary only by date. That is not necessarily a criticism: It's quite clear that Bragg made a strategic decision to sketch the contours of the basic charges and leave it to future proceedings to fill in the picture.
But along with the indictment, Bragg also filed a full-bodied statement of facts. It's not part of the indictment nor, a footnote makes clear, a complete recitation of evidence. But it nevertheless reveals answers to basic questions surrounding the case.
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