Posted on 04/04/2023 5:23:36 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Prosecutors are counting each record misrepresenting the former president's reimbursement of that payment as a separate crime.
The New York indictment of former President Donald Trump, which was unsealed on Tuesday, includes 34 felony counts. All of them are related to a 2016 payment aimed at keeping porn star Stormy Daniels from telling the press about her alleged 2006 affair with Trump.
Although there was nothing inherently criminal about that hush payment, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, has transformed it into nearly three dozen felonies through a tricky two-step process. First, Bragg portrays the payment as a violation of federal election law. Second, he claims Trump repeatedly falsified business records to cover up that uncharged and unproven crime. Yet the underlying conduct, while salacious, still does not seem serious enough to justify the first-ever prosecution of a former U.S. president, especially when the defendant is seeking that office again by running against an incumbent who is a member of the district attorney's party.
Prior to the 2016 presidential election, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to keep her story out of the press, and Trump later reimbursed him with a series of checks. Federal prosecutors viewed the payment to Daniels as an excessive campaign contribution, a characterization that Cohen accepted in a 2018 guilty plea. But although Cohen said he was acting at Trump's behest, the Justice Department never prosecuted Trump, even after he left office. In 2021, an evenly divided Federal Election Commission (FEC) declined to pursue charges against Trump, his business, or his campaign.
The New York indictment nevertheless alleges that Trump "violated election laws" when he instructed Cohen to pay Daniels. That claim is based on the assumption that the payment was aimed at influencing the election rather than avoiding...
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Trump kermitted 64 bazillion felonies! Hurr-durr!
All they need is 1 of 34. That’s the game
I’ve yet to have someone explain to me how as State court has Jurisdiction to try someone for a violation of a Federal Campaign finance law.
They all succeed or fail together.
“Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to keep her story out of the press, and Trump later reimbursed him with a series of checks”
Totaling $460,000.
yeah but they are all the same except date and amount
That is just silly, and it should be thrown out of court immediately.
As a bean counter, I can see that the alleged payments were made by the Trump Revocable Trust. Where is the tie to Trump’s Election Campaign?
Without that tie, there can be no crime to which Trump would be allegedly trying to conceal.
With no crime to conceal, how could Trump possibly intend to commit fraud?
The prosecutors case is very weak indeed.
“I’ve yet to have someone explain to me how as State court has Jurisdiction to try someone for a violation of a Federal Campaign finance law.”
He is not being tried on violation of campaign finance laws.
As far as I can see, the "crime" is "influencing an election". Like, when a candidate runs an ad on TV, or holds a rally, or delivers a a good speech. These are all attempts to influence an election and are now illegal (when a Republican does it).
that is how bragg leveraged a misdemeanor into a felony
They just took a piece of paper and typed “orange man bad” on it 34 times
Powerline sums it up nicely: a nothingburger.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/04/trump-indictment-as-bad-as-we-thought.php
Did you figure out the "17th century biologists" post yet, Dad?
So if I’m accused of doing X, which I didn’t do, and then interviewed by the police, and 34 times I’m accused of X, and each time I deny it...
I can now be indicted on 34 counts of lying to the police, even though X is not proven.
Payment to his barber and taylor should be investigated next because they help his election.
Cohen said repeatedly to his attorneys that Trump didn’t even know it was happening and that Cohen just paid it and then got reimbursed by basically padding the bill.
“that is how bragg leveraged a misdemeanor into a felony”
Cohen has plead guilty to making the illegal campaign contribution and is the star witness.
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