Radical billionaire George Soros has broken his silence on the unprecedented indictment of President Donald Trump by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Bragg, a Democrat whose election campaign was funded by Soros, is pursuing Trump on an impossibly weak and politically motivated case.
Soros has responded by trying to deny that he installed Bragg in the DA’s office to lead an anti-Trump campaign on behalf of the Democrats.
According to Soros, he has never met Bragg or directly donated to him.
However, the campaign funding paper trail shows that Soros funneled vast sums of cash to Bragg’s campaign via progressive groups.
“Anyone who wants to understand why I’ve donated to reform-minded prosecutors should read this as for Alvin Bragg, as a matter of fact, I did not contribute to his campaign, and I don’t know him,” Soros said on social media.
“I think some on the right would rather focus on far-fetched conspiracy theories than on the serious charges against the former president.”
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Soros wrote: “This is why I have supported the election (and more recently the re-election) of prosecutors who support reform.
“I have done it transparently, and I have no intention of stopping.
“The funds I provide enable sensible reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public.”
Reporter Judd Legum fact-checked Soros:
“George Soros donated zero dollars to Alvin Bragg.
“Soros donated $1 million dollars to @ColorOfChange, a group that supports progressive prosecutors.
“@ColorOfChange later spent some money supporting Alvin Bragg.”
Soros donated $1 million dollars to @ColorOfChange, a group that supports supports progressive prosecutors.@ColorofChange later spent some money supporting Alvin Bragg
But the idea that Bragg has significant connections to Soros is bunk
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 31, 2023
Soros continued: “Like most of us, I’m concerned about crime. One of the government’s most important roles is to ensure public safety.
“I have been involved in efforts to reform the criminal justice system for the more than 30 years I have been a philanthropist.
“Yet our system is rife with injustices that make us all less safe.
“The idea that we need to choose between justice and safety is false.
“They reinforce each other,” Soros wrote.
“If people trust the justice system, it will work. And if the system works, public safety will improve.
“In recent years, reform-minded prosecutors and other law-enforcement officials around the country have been coalescing around an agenda that promises to be more effective and just.
“This agenda includes prioritizing the resources of the criminal-justice system to protect people against violent crime.
“It urges that we treat drug addiction as a disease, not a crime.
“And it seeks to end the criminalization of poverty and mental illness.
“This agenda, aiming at both safety and justice, is based on both common sense and evidence. It’s popular. It’s effective.
“The goal is not defunding the police but restoring trust between the police and the policed, a partnership that fosters the solving of crimes.
“Some politicians and pundits have tried to blame recent spikes in crime on the policies of reform-minded prosecutors. The research I’ve seen says otherwise.
“The most rigorous academic study, analyzing data across 35 jurisdictions, shows no connection between the election of reform-minded prosecutors and local crime rates.
“In fact, violent crime in recent years has generally been increasing more quickly in jurisdictions without reform-minded prosecutors.
“Murder rates have been rising fastest in some Republican states led by tough-on-crime politicians.
“Serious scholars researching causes behind the recent increase in crime have pointed to other factors: a disturbing rise in mental illness among young people due to the isolation imposed by Covid lockdowns, a pullback in policing in the wake of public criminal-justice reform protests, and increases in gun trafficking.
“Many of the same people who call for more punitive criminal justice policies also support looser gun laws.
“This is why I have supported the election (and more recently the re-election) of prosecutors who support reform.
“I have done it transparently, and I have no intention of stopping,” he wrote.
“The funds I provide enable sensible reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public.
“Judging by the results, the public likes what it’s hearing.”
