Bragg’s prosecution of Trump violates this important legal doctrine

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is prosecuting former President Donald Trump for unlawful federal political contributions and the subsequent concealment of those contributions. However, it is the Federal Election Commission, not the Manhattan DA, that is charged by Congress with enforcing federal campaign laws. 

By taking federal law into his own hands, Bragg is way out of order. What’s more, he has run afoul of a somewhat obscure but vital doctrine created by the Supreme Court specifically to prevent such prosecutorial overreach.

This rule, known as the “primary jurisdiction doctrine,” says that a court should stay or dismiss a claim when it implicates issues within the special competence of a federal administrative agency. In this case, federal campaign finance violations are within the special competence

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