New York defense attorney argues legal system was weaponized against Trump

New York defense attorney and political commentator Arthur Aidala said that President Donald Trump faced a clear "weaponization" of the legal system against him, especially in the years leading up to the 2024 election.

"You have to say the DOJ was weaponized against Donald Trump, and you could say the Manhattan DA's office was and the New York State Attorney General was," criminal defense attorney Arthur Aidala said on CNN Thursday. "I mean, there's no doubt about it."

President Donald Trump faced a number of legal challenges during his presidential campaign, including being found guilty on charges of falsifying business records stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation.

While Trump was sentenced with no penalty in January for those charges, he was also forced to respond to legal action by the Biden Department of Justice and the New York State Attorney General, among other entities.

"I practice in this area of law," Aidala continued. "That case that was brought by Alvin Bragg and the Manhattan District Attorney‘s office was the first of its kind in the history of the United States of America. So they were definitely targeting him."

"I‘m not talking about January 6th," Aidala said. "I‘m talking about Donald Trump himself. And I think he‘s got PTSD. You know, it turned out all right for him, but he almost went to jail federally. He almost went to jail statewide. They called his three adult children to the stand in the finance case. They took his companies and said you can‘t run your companies in the state of New York. So in terms of Donald Trump, the whole system was definitely weaponized against him."

In New York, Judge Juan Merchan did not sentence the president-elect to prison, and instead sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, meaning there is no punishment imposed: no jail time, fines or probation. The sentence also preserves Trump's ability to appeal the conviction.

"After careful analysis, this court determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction is an unconditional discharge," Merchan said on January 10. "At this time, I impose that sentence to cover all 34 counts."