ABC’s George Stephanopoulos shuts down Donald Trump’s lawyer false claim that President Joe Biden is responsible for the former president’s criminal cases.
Last week, a jury in Manhattan found Trump guilty on all 34 charges of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by paying hush money to an adult film star to remain quiet about his extramarital affair.
Trump and his allies have repeatedly pushed the false claim that President Biden is behind his prosecution despite it being a state case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
On ABC’S This Week, Trump attorney Will Scharf claimed the case is another example of how Biden has weaponized the Justice Department against his rival, but Stephanopoulos was not having it.
“This case in New York? It was called the zombie case,” Scharf said. “It sat and sat and sat. It could have been brought at any point after 2020. And then suddenly, when President Trump announced his campaign for president, it was dusted off, rushed in front of a grand jury and then rushed into court. You want to talk about the politicization of the legal system? I mean, this is exhibit A.”
“Of course, the attorney general in Manhattan has nothing to do with the Department of Justice,” Stephanopoulos said.
“I vehemently disagree that the district attorney in New York was not politically motivated here,” Scharf responded. “And I vehemently disagree that President Biden and his political allies aren’t up to their necks in this prosecution.”
Stephanopoulos interrupted Scharf’s rant to point out that “there’s no evidence” to support their claim that Biden is responsible for Trump’s criminal cases.
“I’m not going to let you continue to say that,” the host added. “There’s just zero evidence of that.”
Scharf responded by referencing Matthew Colangelo, who was a senior official in the Biden Justice Department before leaving to work for Bragg’s office in 2022.
“This has nothing to do with President Biden,” Stephanopoulos insisted.
Scharf said he disagreed and looks forward to appealing the decision and possibly taking the case all the way up to the Supreme Court if necessary.
