Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg faces two lawsuits after refusing to release Trump prosecution records

New York Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is facing two lawsuits after refusing to comply with state Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests for information regarding his office's possible communications with the U.S. Justice Department over the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.  

A Manhattan grand jury voted earlier this year to indict Trump over his alleged role in a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, making him the first former president to face criminal charges.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit alleging that Bragg and his team retained pro bono assistance from well known law firms that have expertise in white-collar litigation. 

Another lawsuit filed by Heritage alleges that Bragg and his team had communications with the DOJ, White House and Democrat lawmakers about the Trump indictment, Fox News reports.

"Regrettably, these questions have not been met with answers," the lawsuit stated. These reports have raised concerns in many circles based in large part upon the longstanding history of President Trump’s political opponents coordinating their activities to systematically weaponize the criminal justice system against him and thereby pervert the course of Justice," a filing for the first lawsuit reads.

Director of Heritage’s Oversight Project Mike Howell said there is reason to believe Bragg was "coordinating, or otherwise communicating" with Trump's political opposition. 

"The fact we have to file a lawsuit against Bragg who says he can't produce these records and says he doesn't have the systems to do so, is proof-positive of another dual standard of justice at play in this country," he said in a Fox News Digital interview.