Coolidge Reagan Foundation Files Amicus Brief Urging N.Y. Appellate Court To Vacate Alvin Bragg's Unlawful Conviction Of President Donald J. Trump

Washington, DC, December 16th, 2025, NewsDirect

Highlights Multiple, Fatal Legal Defects and Urges Court to Uphold the Rule of Law

The Coolidge Reagan Foundation (“CRF”), a nonprofit dedicated to defending the rule of law, election integrity, and constitutional governance, announced the filing of an amicus brief with the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, calling for the full reversal of the conviction obtained by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg against President Donald J. Trump.

The brief, grounded in extensive statutory analysis and decades of unambiguous federal election law, argues the conviction is legally unsustainable on multiple, independent grounds and that the trial itself was predicated on a theory New York had no authority to prosecute.

The CRF brief identifies three fatal legal defects in the prosecution:

New York's Election Statute Does Not Apply to Federal Candidates

New York Election Law applies only to elections for state and local public offices. The statute has never been applied to federal offices, and the Presidency is not a“public office” under that law.

Federal Election Law Fully Preempts States From Regulating Federal Campaign Conduct

Even if New York attempted to stretch its laws to reach a federal election, the Federal Election Campaign Act (the FECA) expressly preempts any state law“with respect to election to Federal office.” Congress deliberately and explicitly occupied the entire field of campaign finance regulation for federal candidates.

The Alleged 'Underlying Federal Crime' Is Not a Crime at All

Bragg's central theory asserting President Trump violated the FECA by failing to report as a campaign expense his payments from personal funds – but The FECA flatly prohibits candidates from using campaign funds for personal matters, including paying off blackmailers making salacious and extortionate claims.

About the Coolidge Reagan Foundation

For more than a decade, the Coolidge Reagan Foundation has been America's leading political integrity and campaign finance watchdog. Its 2018 complaint against Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee over the unlawful funding of the Steele Dossier led to a six-figure fine against Clinton-the only fine ever levied against her. The Foundation's 2019 complaint against Bernie Sanders for hiring illegal aliens led to a five-figure fine, and it has fearlessly taken on the political corruption by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Jasmine Crockett, Rashida Tlaib, and many others.

For a copy of the brief, please click here.

For more information, to request a copy of the Brief, of for interviews with a CRF representative, please contact: Dan Rene at 202-329-8357 or [email protected].

Please visit:

Communications Director
Dan Rene
Coolidge Reagan Foundation
[email protected]
202-329-8357

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