Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has made going after former President Donald Trump a major feature of his term in office.

However, the district attorney is now facing legal problems of his own after a judge held him in contempt of court. 

Case concerns doctor who was spared jailed time for abusing women

That development is connected with a controversial 2016 plea bargain deal the district attorney's office offered to disgraced gynecologist  Dr. Robert Hadden.

Hadden pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a patient in exchange for no jail time and the loss of his license to practice medicine. The deal also prevented him from being prosecuted for crimes committed against other women.

That agreement was entered into by Bragg's predecessor, former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., despite Hadden having admitted to preying upon five other victims.

Those women are being represented in a civil suit by attorney Anthony DiPietro, who is seeking communications between the district attorney's office and Columbia University, Hadden's former employer.

While Bragg has refused to comply with that request, Judge Richard G. Latin instructed him to do so in an order put out last month.

Plaintiffs' lawyer: Bragg's office is "covering up a crime" by Columbia University

"They should be prosecuting Columbia [University], not protecting them," the New York Post quoted DiPietro as saying of Bragg's office.

"I grew up understanding that covering up a crime is a separate crime itself," he told the newspaper. "And now it seems like the district attorney is helping Columbia hide those documents, and we want the documents."

The Post noted that DiPietro believes the communications could demonstrate that Columbia University had knowledge of Hadden's crimes.

"If the lawyers at the District Attorney’s office — the prosecutors — are worth their salt, they’re gonna get this information before they offer any plea deal," DiPietro went on to add.

Hadden was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison

According to the newspaper, the former physician began sobbing in court before he was sentenced to two decades behind bars.

Disgraced NYC ob-gyn Robert Hadden sobs in court as he’s sentenced to 20 years for sex trafficking patients https://t.co/HR3ltU2XHZ pic.twitter.com/7jBViXkClU

— New York Post (@nypost) July 25, 2023

"I'm very sorry for all the pain that I have caused," Hadden told Judge Richard Berman, who went on to condemn his "shocking and extreme" behavior.