I couldn’t find a thread just about this case, and thought we should have one since it’s Trump’s first criminal trial. He has to attend every day, as I understand it. Here is a quick reminder of what it’s about. His former lawyer Michael Cohen already went to prison for his involvement in this case.
Trump Election Interference / Falsification of Business Records Criminal Trial (6 Viewers)
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superchuck500
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It’s the “NY AG” thread but it’s messy and makes sense to have a new one for the trial.
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Trump Indictment ( includes NY AG and Fed documents case )
Former President D. Trump has been indicted by a New York Grand Jury. There will be much to talk about on this topic because this is just the first step in a lengthy process. Possibly it is worthy of its own thread here rather than posting about Trump's indictment in already existing threads...
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As the criminal cases mounted against Donald Trump last year, one could be forgiven for not giving much thought to the New York case that charged him with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records.
The episode was a bombshell when the Wall Street Journal first reported it in January 2018. Trump paid the adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 election to keep quiet about an affair. He funneled the payment through his lawyer, Michael Cohen, and then lied about the purpose of the payment in his business records. By the time the case was filed last year, it had largely faded in the public psyche – buried under Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election and an avalanche of other lies.
Now, the once-sleepy case will be the first time a former president has gone to trial on criminal charges. It’s an awkward incongruity – the case with what appear the more benign crimes is taking on an outsize importance by going first – and a dynamic that’s been shaped entirely by Trump, who has used an array of legal maneuvers to delay the other three criminal cases against him.
Like all of the trials against Trump, there will also be a case in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. And first-term district attorney Alvin Bragg will need to clear both hurdles by not only presenting a cut-and-dry case about falsifying business records, but reminding the American public who the true victims are: themselves.
“The prosecutor is going to want to sort of detail a precise case of ‘these are the documents, it was falsified, he knew and he had the intent’ and is going to try, in some ways, to simplify and streamline this case for the jury,” said Cheryl Bader, a professor at Fordham law school who specializes in criminal justice. “On the other hand, they also want to show why this matters as a matter of election democracy and choosing the highest officer in the land.”
Bragg has already started trying to frame the case as a matter of election interference, casting the hush-money payments and efforts to hide them as part of a scheme to conceal information from voters ahead of the 2016 election.
When Bragg first filed the charges, the biggest issue in the case was whether the crimes amounted to a felony. In New York, falsification of business records is a misdemeanor, but can be charged as a felony when it is done with the intent to commit another crime. Bragg has said Trump falsified the business records with the intent to violate federal and New York state election laws, among other things – a novel way of charging the crime.
Many experts were initially somewhat skeptical of this strategy. While Judge Juan Merchan and a federal judge have both allowed Bragg to proceed to trial on this theory, it will probably be a central issue at the trial. Bragg will need to convince the jurors beyond a reasonable doubt not only that Trump falsified business records but also that he intended to violate another law.…..
www.theguardian.com
The episode was a bombshell when the Wall Street Journal first reported it in January 2018. Trump paid the adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 election to keep quiet about an affair. He funneled the payment through his lawyer, Michael Cohen, and then lied about the purpose of the payment in his business records. By the time the case was filed last year, it had largely faded in the public psyche – buried under Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election and an avalanche of other lies.
Now, the once-sleepy case will be the first time a former president has gone to trial on criminal charges. It’s an awkward incongruity – the case with what appear the more benign crimes is taking on an outsize importance by going first – and a dynamic that’s been shaped entirely by Trump, who has used an array of legal maneuvers to delay the other three criminal cases against him.
Like all of the trials against Trump, there will also be a case in the courtroom and in the court of public opinion. And first-term district attorney Alvin Bragg will need to clear both hurdles by not only presenting a cut-and-dry case about falsifying business records, but reminding the American public who the true victims are: themselves.
“The prosecutor is going to want to sort of detail a precise case of ‘these are the documents, it was falsified, he knew and he had the intent’ and is going to try, in some ways, to simplify and streamline this case for the jury,” said Cheryl Bader, a professor at Fordham law school who specializes in criminal justice. “On the other hand, they also want to show why this matters as a matter of election democracy and choosing the highest officer in the land.”
Bragg has already started trying to frame the case as a matter of election interference, casting the hush-money payments and efforts to hide them as part of a scheme to conceal information from voters ahead of the 2016 election.
When Bragg first filed the charges, the biggest issue in the case was whether the crimes amounted to a felony. In New York, falsification of business records is a misdemeanor, but can be charged as a felony when it is done with the intent to commit another crime. Bragg has said Trump falsified the business records with the intent to violate federal and New York state election laws, among other things – a novel way of charging the crime.
Many experts were initially somewhat skeptical of this strategy. While Judge Juan Merchan and a federal judge have both allowed Bragg to proceed to trial on this theory, it will probably be a central issue at the trial. Bragg will need to convince the jurors beyond a reasonable doubt not only that Trump falsified business records but also that he intended to violate another law.…..
Trump’s New York criminal trial begins soon – but will the public care?
The case was big news when it was filed last year, but it’s been overshadowed by a litany of other alleged crimes by the ex-president
Optimus Prime
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This case has always seemed to be the least of the charges against Trump
one of the articles I posted in the other thread said that if this had happened to any other president (or even presidential candidate) at any other time this case would be a Watergate level scandal and would get “trial of the century” coverage
one of the articles I posted in the other thread said that if this had happened to any other president (or even presidential candidate) at any other time this case would be a Watergate level scandal and would get “trial of the century” coverage
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MT15
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It’s not insignificant. It just seems that way because of all the other criming he’s done and is doing. It’s 40 some felony counts, each of which could lead to prison time.
Taurus
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Yeah. Next to espionage and conspiracy to commit treason, election finance fraud just doesn't seem to shine so brightly.
Optimus Prime
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I know, but the media coverage definitely treated this as the least sexy of the trials (which was a bit odd, as this was the only one to involve sex, and with a porn star to boot)
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Yeah, except the crimes didn’t involve the sex at all. But I know what you mean.
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BTW, I’m not sure if anyone can count the number of motions filed by Trump’s attorneys in the past week seeking anything they can grasp onto to delay this trial. It’s been like a blizzard. I won’t be surprised if there is some sort of illness or accident in the Trump family this weekend, esp. Sunday, that will force a delay. He’s evidently terrified.
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Trump’s fundraising email about the trial:
“72 HOURS UNTIL ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!
Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA and chip in >
Friend, on Monday, my SHAM trial in New York begins.
THEY WANT ME IN PRISON!
Democrats are chomping at the bit. They think if you see me sitting in court, it will be the end of the MAGA Movement.
If we fail to have a MASSIVE outpouring of peaceful patriotic support – right here, right now – all Hell will break loose.
STAND WITH TRUMP
#1 Democrats will say the end of our campaign is near.
#2 The hateful LIARS in the media will say our movement is FINISHED.
#3 And worst of all? THE ABSOLUTE WORST! They’ll start to say supporters like YOU have GIVEN UP on me…
BUT I KNOW THAT’S NOT TRUE! MY SUPPORTERS ARE THE GREATEST PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY!
Rabid Democrats are poised to raise MILLIONS while I’m stuck defending myself in court.
Listen, I’m sure you get a lot of these messages, but now it’s time for ALL of us to send the Democrats, the media, and the Globalist Deep State a message they’ll NEVER forget.
Before the day is over, I’m calling on ONE MILLION pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say, I’LL NEVER GIVE UP ON PRESIDENT TRUMP! >
STAND WITH TRUMP
Remember, the only thing standing between freedom & the TOTAL OBLITERATION of our country is your support.
YOUR SUPPORT fuels our Patriotic movement.
And only with YOUR SUPPORT will we win back the White House.
So from the bottom of my heart, I’m asking for you to peacefully stand by my side just one more time >
STAND WITH TRUMP
Together we will win back the White House and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
“72 HOURS UNTIL ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!
Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA and chip in >
Friend, on Monday, my SHAM trial in New York begins.
THEY WANT ME IN PRISON!
Democrats are chomping at the bit. They think if you see me sitting in court, it will be the end of the MAGA Movement.
If we fail to have a MASSIVE outpouring of peaceful patriotic support – right here, right now – all Hell will break loose.
STAND WITH TRUMP
#1 Democrats will say the end of our campaign is near.
#2 The hateful LIARS in the media will say our movement is FINISHED.
#3 And worst of all? THE ABSOLUTE WORST! They’ll start to say supporters like YOU have GIVEN UP on me…
BUT I KNOW THAT’S NOT TRUE! MY SUPPORTERS ARE THE GREATEST PEOPLE IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY!
Rabid Democrats are poised to raise MILLIONS while I’m stuck defending myself in court.
Listen, I’m sure you get a lot of these messages, but now it’s time for ALL of us to send the Democrats, the media, and the Globalist Deep State a message they’ll NEVER forget.
Before the day is over, I’m calling on ONE MILLION pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say, I’LL NEVER GIVE UP ON PRESIDENT TRUMP! >
STAND WITH TRUMP
Remember, the only thing standing between freedom & the TOTAL OBLITERATION of our country is your support.
YOUR SUPPORT fuels our Patriotic movement.
And only with YOUR SUPPORT will we win back the White House.
So from the bottom of my heart, I’m asking for you to peacefully stand by my side just one more time >
STAND WITH TRUMP
Together we will win back the White House and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
superchuck500
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FullMonte
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I saw a meme the other day that was Trump on the phone, he was saying, "I see that OJ Simpson died. Is there a way to file a motion to use that to delay the trial?"
As for an accident/illness, you just KNOW that Trump is pushing everyone in his family to injure themselves severely so he can use that to get out of trial.
coldseat
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Maybe he'll bring back the bone spurs for nostalgic reasons in true MAGA fashion.
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So he was whining in PA because he can’t move the date for the election to this month. He says other countries can name the date of their elections and have them when they want to have them. He’s really worried about these trials.
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Text of Eisen’s points.
1-it’s not an “ arguable” crime for Trump & Cohen to conspire for the latter to make a $130,000 campaign contribution when Cohen’s limit was $2700– that’s a serious offense.
2-And it’s not a very good defense to an alleged crime for the defendant to say there was another legal way to do it. Yes I could’ve simply bought that candy bar instead of shoplifting it – but that’s not a defense to shoplifting.
3-Remember, this scandal was suppressed immediately after the Access Hollywood tape and immediately before the election. In a contest that was decided by just 80,000 votes across three states, another sex scandal could have been outcome determinative. There was a serious act of voter deception here to grasp power. Sure sounds like election interference to me
1-it’s not an “ arguable” crime for Trump & Cohen to conspire for the latter to make a $130,000 campaign contribution when Cohen’s limit was $2700– that’s a serious offense.
2-And it’s not a very good defense to an alleged crime for the defendant to say there was another legal way to do it. Yes I could’ve simply bought that candy bar instead of shoplifting it – but that’s not a defense to shoplifting.
3-Remember, this scandal was suppressed immediately after the Access Hollywood tape and immediately before the election. In a contest that was decided by just 80,000 votes across three states, another sex scandal could have been outcome determinative. There was a serious act of voter deception here to grasp power. Sure sounds like election interference to me
Optimus Prime
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The People of the State of New York v Donald J Trump will conclude, according to long-established court procedure.
The former US president’s defense attorney will make a closing argument. He will assert that his client is not guilty of the charges of bribery and business fraud to manipulate the 2016 election.
Judge Juan Merchan will issue his instructions to the jurors. They will deliberate. When they emerge, the foreperson will read the verdict in open court. If Trump is found guilty, Merchan will adjourn to a later date for sentencing.
If Trump is found guilty on all 34 felony counts, he could theoretically face a maximum of 136 years in prison.
Post-conviction, the major question would be whether his sentencing involves actual imprisonment, probation, a fine, or some combination, along with various parole arrangements.
To be sure, Trump would then almost certainly file an appeal, but this would not forestall his immediately incurring certain civil disabilities. Above all, he would instantly lose his right to vote.
The first former president ever to be convicted of a crime would also be the first disenfranchised felon to be nominated by a major party.
In this current electoral cycle, Trump has managed to pass himself off as a normal candidate despite separate juries finding him to be a rapist and a fraudster.
But those were civil cases. A criminal verdict may crack Trump’s aura of magical legal invincibility intrinsic to his image as a strongman.
In the grand ritual of election day 2024, surrounded by the clicking cameras of the press corps, assuming he is still out on appeal, Trump could tag along with his wife Melania, a naturalized citizen, to the polls in Palm Beach, but he could not enter a voting booth. He could not vote for himself, or anyone else, for any office…….
www.theguardian.com
The former US president’s defense attorney will make a closing argument. He will assert that his client is not guilty of the charges of bribery and business fraud to manipulate the 2016 election.
Judge Juan Merchan will issue his instructions to the jurors. They will deliberate. When they emerge, the foreperson will read the verdict in open court. If Trump is found guilty, Merchan will adjourn to a later date for sentencing.
If Trump is found guilty on all 34 felony counts, he could theoretically face a maximum of 136 years in prison.
Post-conviction, the major question would be whether his sentencing involves actual imprisonment, probation, a fine, or some combination, along with various parole arrangements.
To be sure, Trump would then almost certainly file an appeal, but this would not forestall his immediately incurring certain civil disabilities. Above all, he would instantly lose his right to vote.
The first former president ever to be convicted of a crime would also be the first disenfranchised felon to be nominated by a major party.
In this current electoral cycle, Trump has managed to pass himself off as a normal candidate despite separate juries finding him to be a rapist and a fraudster.
But those were civil cases. A criminal verdict may crack Trump’s aura of magical legal invincibility intrinsic to his image as a strongman.
In the grand ritual of election day 2024, surrounded by the clicking cameras of the press corps, assuming he is still out on appeal, Trump could tag along with his wife Melania, a naturalized citizen, to the polls in Palm Beach, but he could not enter a voting booth. He could not vote for himself, or anyone else, for any office…….
Trump used to scold felons who wanted to vote. Now he could be in the same spot | Sidney Blumenthal
If criminally convicted in New York, Trump will face legal humiliations of the sort he loves when applied to other people
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Of all of Donald Trump’s charged crimes, spelled out in 88 felony counts – from plotting to overthrow the government of the United States to stealing national security secrets, and obstruction of justice along the way – there is one case that most closely parallels the greatest political crime in American history: his trial in New York, scheduled to begin 15 April, for falsifying business records.
Yet against the enormity of the former president’s transgressions, that case’s gravitas has been diminished by some legal pundits as the “runt of the litter” and “probably the least serious of the crimes he’s been charged with”.
This case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney, however, reveals Trump as having essentially the same purpose as Richard Nixon in Watergate, hiding the truth through fraud and bribery in order to manipulate the outcome of a presidential election……
Echoing Nixon, Trump in his 2016 campaign conspired to exchange hush money for silence about certain of his actions that he believed would cost him the election if the public knew about them.
As in Watergate, his crimes involved bribery, illegal campaign contributions and tax fraud. Trump directed his cover-up when he was a candidate, when he was the president-elect, and, in one instance, when he was president.
Every one of the 34 felony counts in Trump’s indictment begins with a citation of the same New York State criminal statute, §175.10, on falsifying business records in the first degree, which requires a mens rea – a state of mind – that “includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof”.
Essentially, Trump has been indicted on what the Watergate prosecutors in the road map called the “concealment theory” that was at the heart of Nixon’s cover-up. In short, both Trump and Nixon committed business crimes to further their political crimes……
www.theguardian.com
Yet against the enormity of the former president’s transgressions, that case’s gravitas has been diminished by some legal pundits as the “runt of the litter” and “probably the least serious of the crimes he’s been charged with”.
This case, brought by the Manhattan district attorney, however, reveals Trump as having essentially the same purpose as Richard Nixon in Watergate, hiding the truth through fraud and bribery in order to manipulate the outcome of a presidential election……
Echoing Nixon, Trump in his 2016 campaign conspired to exchange hush money for silence about certain of his actions that he believed would cost him the election if the public knew about them.
As in Watergate, his crimes involved bribery, illegal campaign contributions and tax fraud. Trump directed his cover-up when he was a candidate, when he was the president-elect, and, in one instance, when he was president.
Every one of the 34 felony counts in Trump’s indictment begins with a citation of the same New York State criminal statute, §175.10, on falsifying business records in the first degree, which requires a mens rea – a state of mind – that “includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof”.
Essentially, Trump has been indicted on what the Watergate prosecutors in the road map called the “concealment theory” that was at the heart of Nixon’s cover-up. In short, both Trump and Nixon committed business crimes to further their political crimes……
If cover-up is the real crime, Trump’s hush-money charges have a Nixonian ring | Sidney Blumenthal
Trump’s New York trial is only superficially about his tawdry sex life and really about his ultimate victim: the constitution
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