‘Abuse of prosecutorial power’: Law professor and Jeffrey Toobin clash on CNN over legitimacy of Manhattan DA’s ‘novel’ Trump hush-money case

Jeffrey Toobin, Jed Shugerman

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin (left) and (right) Boston University law professor Jed Shugerman clash in April 25, 2024 CNN segment on Trump hush-money case (CNN/screengrab)

A law professor appearing on a CNN panel Thursday made that case that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (D) has engaged in an “abuse of prosecutorial power” by bringing the 2016 election-focused hush-money prosecution against former President Donald Trump, sparking a clash with legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Boston University law professor Jed Shugerman, who has consistently pilloried Bragg’s case as an “overreach,” in recent days wrote that the case has gone from “legal embarrassment” to “historic mistake.” Shugerman reiterated his position Thursday on Anderson Cooper’s show that the DA’s Trump case is a historic “abuse of prosecutorial power.”

“One big picture problem as a historic mistake is that those of us who have been dreading the return of Donald Trump to office and misusing power, we’ve been talking about the rule of law for years. And what the rule of law means is there are rules, and some of those rules include precedents. You have to follow those rules if you expect the other side to follow those rules,” Shugerman began, before saying, “now is the time to make sure prosecutors are not abusing their power and to make sure that we are following the rule of law.”

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