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Alvin Bragg's Case Against Trump Should Have Been Dismissed |
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Ubiquitous
Feb 20, 2024, 7:43:14 AM2/20/24
to
On Thursday, February 15, Acting Justice Juan Merchan in the Manhattan trial
court ordered that Alvin Bragg's 34-count felony case against former
president Trump, alleging falsification of business records regarding hush
money he paid to adult performer Stormy Daniels in 2016, proceed to trial
scheduled for March 25, 2024.
It is no accident that the trial date is scheduled for three weeks after
Super Tuesday, when sixteen states and territories, representing almost
three-quarters of the delegates needed to win the GOP nomination, hold their
primaries, and right before five more states hold their primaries on April 2.
At best, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Trump or any
presidential candidate to campaign and raise money while in the middle of
criminal trials. In fact, during the hearing, Justice Merchan said that he
spoke twice last week to Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court in
D.C., who is overseeing Trump's January 6 criminal case, which special
counsel Jack Smith is pushing hard to start as soon as possible.
Though it was inevitable that at least one of Trump's many upcoming trials
was going to start and almost certainly finish before the November 5, 2024
election, in perhaps a bit of political luck for Trump, Bragg's case is the
weakest and least relevant to Trump's time in office, and thus fuels Trump's
political claim that Democrats weaponized the justice system to "persecute"
him in order to prevent his returning as president. It seems that Trump's
strategy of appearing in court and attacking what his supporters view as a
biased legal system is still paying political dividends for him, as it keeps
him atop the nation's political attention.
Donald Trump
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump attends
a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15, 2024 in New
York City. Media reports said Trump smiled as a person was heard clapping...
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump attends
a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15, 2024 in New
York City. Media reports said Trump smiled as a person was heard clapping in
the court. Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images
Bragg's case alleges that Trump, through his former fixer Michael Cohen and
the Trump Organization, falsified business records with the intent to defraud
and commit another crime. Trump allegedly violated federal campaign finance
laws when he paid Daniels $130,000 through Cohen to sign a NDA about their
alleged sexual encounter—something we have to glean not from the indictment
but from Bragg's statement that Cohen pled guilty to campaign finance
violations; Cohen, who paid Daniels the money out of pocket, labeled his
invoiced reimbursements as "legal services" instead of something like
"reimbursement for settlement payment re: extra-marital sex."
Bragg turned this single transaction, which normally would have been one
misdemeanor charge, into 34 separate felony counts with a maximum combined
sentence of 136 years by throwing in the federal charge and aggressively
subdividing each invoice, check, deposit, etc. into its own charge.
All Bragg needs is a conviction on one of the 34 counts to destroy Trump.
Justice Merchan's opinion apparently ignored several important points of law.
For example, it seems to contradict the U.S. Supreme Court's body of cases
which limit criminal fraud cases to depriving traditional property interests
such as money, not something ephemeral. That's assuming there actually was an
intent to defraud, because the only person whom the incorrect labeling
affected was Trump himself.
In fact, Bragg's indictment never specifies what the "another crime" is,
which is a minimum requirement for any indictment, let alone one of this
magnitude.
Also, it is doubtful that Bragg may charge the federal crime. State
prosecutors may not prosecute federal crimes because under Article II of the
U.S. Constitution, only the president, through his Department of Justice, has
that power. Imagine that a district attorney decided to prosecute Hunter,
Joe, and Jim Biden for FARA violations because he or she felt that the DOJ
was protecting them, or a district attorney in Arizona or Texas decided to
prosecute illegal aliens for violating the Immigration and Nationality Act or
the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, which would contravene the U.S.
Supreme Court's decision in Arizona v. United States (2012).
Prior to Bragg's indictment, SDNY prosecutors investigated Trump's alleged
campaign finance violations, as did the Federal Election Commission, but both
declined to pursue the case because Trump used his own money, not campaign
finance money, and because reimbursing someone for a hush-money payment does
not fit the definition of an in-kind campaign contribution. In fact,
candidates do not have to disclose expenses that would have been incurred
even if no campaign existed; it is highly likely that Trump would have paid
Daniels regardless just to avoid any marital strife or embarrassment to
himself and his family.
Furthermore, because Cohen paid Daniels on October 26, 2016, 13 days before
the election, and Trump did not complete his reimbursement payments until
December 5, 2017, Trump would not have had to report the payment to the FEC,
assuming he had to at all, until February or March of 2017 at the earliest,
well-after the 2016 election ended.
Moreover, Bragg's assertion that disclosure of the payment would have
affected the electoral outcome is wrong; in 2016, Trump lost the State of New
York by more than 20 points, a ginormous margin; disclosure would not have
made a difference.
Again, imagine that a district attorney decided to charge Tony Blinken and
Hunter Biden for an illegal, undisclosed in-kind campaign contribution when
they lied in October 2020 to conceal that the abandoned laptop actually
belonged to Hunter ("earmarks of a Russian information operation").
It seems clear that Bragg twisted the law to bring this case only because the
defendant is Donald Trump. A state court system that truly enforced the rule
of law would stop its prosecutors from abusing their discretion as Bragg did.
Justice Merchan should know better because he worked as an ADA under
legendary district attorney Bob Morgenthau. A justice system with fairness
and integrity would put the brakes on the rush to convict the former
president. As Justice Robert H. Jackson once said, a prosecutor who singles
out "some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass" is where "the
greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies," and that such a
prosecutor "has a perverted sense of practical values, as well as defects of
character."
: John Yoo is the Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of
: California at Berkeley, a nonresident senior fellow at the American
: Enterprise Institute, and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He
: served in the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001 to 2003. John Shu is a
: legal scholar and commentator who served in the administrations of
: Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
--
Let's go Brandon!
court ordered that Alvin Bragg's 34-count felony case against former
president Trump, alleging falsification of business records regarding hush
money he paid to adult performer Stormy Daniels in 2016, proceed to trial
scheduled for March 25, 2024.
It is no accident that the trial date is scheduled for three weeks after
Super Tuesday, when sixteen states and territories, representing almost
three-quarters of the delegates needed to win the GOP nomination, hold their
primaries, and right before five more states hold their primaries on April 2.
At best, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for Trump or any
presidential candidate to campaign and raise money while in the middle of
criminal trials. In fact, during the hearing, Justice Merchan said that he
spoke twice last week to Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court in
D.C., who is overseeing Trump's January 6 criminal case, which special
counsel Jack Smith is pushing hard to start as soon as possible.
Though it was inevitable that at least one of Trump's many upcoming trials
was going to start and almost certainly finish before the November 5, 2024
election, in perhaps a bit of political luck for Trump, Bragg's case is the
weakest and least relevant to Trump's time in office, and thus fuels Trump's
political claim that Democrats weaponized the justice system to "persecute"
him in order to prevent his returning as president. It seems that Trump's
strategy of appearing in court and attacking what his supporters view as a
biased legal system is still paying political dividends for him, as it keeps
him atop the nation's political attention.
Donald Trump
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump attends
a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15, 2024 in New
York City. Media reports said Trump smiled as a person was heard clapping...
Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump attends
a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 15, 2024 in New
York City. Media reports said Trump smiled as a person was heard clapping in
the court. Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images
Bragg's case alleges that Trump, through his former fixer Michael Cohen and
the Trump Organization, falsified business records with the intent to defraud
and commit another crime. Trump allegedly violated federal campaign finance
laws when he paid Daniels $130,000 through Cohen to sign a NDA about their
alleged sexual encounter—something we have to glean not from the indictment
but from Bragg's statement that Cohen pled guilty to campaign finance
violations; Cohen, who paid Daniels the money out of pocket, labeled his
invoiced reimbursements as "legal services" instead of something like
"reimbursement for settlement payment re: extra-marital sex."
Bragg turned this single transaction, which normally would have been one
misdemeanor charge, into 34 separate felony counts with a maximum combined
sentence of 136 years by throwing in the federal charge and aggressively
subdividing each invoice, check, deposit, etc. into its own charge.
All Bragg needs is a conviction on one of the 34 counts to destroy Trump.
Justice Merchan's opinion apparently ignored several important points of law.
For example, it seems to contradict the U.S. Supreme Court's body of cases
which limit criminal fraud cases to depriving traditional property interests
such as money, not something ephemeral. That's assuming there actually was an
intent to defraud, because the only person whom the incorrect labeling
affected was Trump himself.
In fact, Bragg's indictment never specifies what the "another crime" is,
which is a minimum requirement for any indictment, let alone one of this
magnitude.
Also, it is doubtful that Bragg may charge the federal crime. State
prosecutors may not prosecute federal crimes because under Article II of the
U.S. Constitution, only the president, through his Department of Justice, has
that power. Imagine that a district attorney decided to prosecute Hunter,
Joe, and Jim Biden for FARA violations because he or she felt that the DOJ
was protecting them, or a district attorney in Arizona or Texas decided to
prosecute illegal aliens for violating the Immigration and Nationality Act or
the Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, which would contravene the U.S.
Supreme Court's decision in Arizona v. United States (2012).
Prior to Bragg's indictment, SDNY prosecutors investigated Trump's alleged
campaign finance violations, as did the Federal Election Commission, but both
declined to pursue the case because Trump used his own money, not campaign
finance money, and because reimbursing someone for a hush-money payment does
not fit the definition of an in-kind campaign contribution. In fact,
candidates do not have to disclose expenses that would have been incurred
even if no campaign existed; it is highly likely that Trump would have paid
Daniels regardless just to avoid any marital strife or embarrassment to
himself and his family.
Furthermore, because Cohen paid Daniels on October 26, 2016, 13 days before
the election, and Trump did not complete his reimbursement payments until
December 5, 2017, Trump would not have had to report the payment to the FEC,
assuming he had to at all, until February or March of 2017 at the earliest,
well-after the 2016 election ended.
Moreover, Bragg's assertion that disclosure of the payment would have
affected the electoral outcome is wrong; in 2016, Trump lost the State of New
York by more than 20 points, a ginormous margin; disclosure would not have
made a difference.
Again, imagine that a district attorney decided to charge Tony Blinken and
Hunter Biden for an illegal, undisclosed in-kind campaign contribution when
they lied in October 2020 to conceal that the abandoned laptop actually
belonged to Hunter ("earmarks of a Russian information operation").
It seems clear that Bragg twisted the law to bring this case only because the
defendant is Donald Trump. A state court system that truly enforced the rule
of law would stop its prosecutors from abusing their discretion as Bragg did.
Justice Merchan should know better because he worked as an ADA under
legendary district attorney Bob Morgenthau. A justice system with fairness
and integrity would put the brakes on the rush to convict the former
president. As Justice Robert H. Jackson once said, a prosecutor who singles
out "some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass" is where "the
greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies," and that such a
prosecutor "has a perverted sense of practical values, as well as defects of
character."
: John Yoo is the Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of
: California at Berkeley, a nonresident senior fellow at the American
: Enterprise Institute, and a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution. He
: served in the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001 to 2003. John Shu is a
: legal scholar and commentator who served in the administrations of
: Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
--
Let's go Brandon!
pothead
Feb 20, 2024, 8:11:34 AM2/20/24
to
from getting elected.
It boggles the mind.
Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
have opened up Pandora's Box.
--
pothead
Tommy Chong For President 2024.
Crazy Joe Biden Is A Demented Imbecile.
Impeach Joe Biden 2022.
Richard Clayton Wieber
Feb 20, 2024, 10:31:57 AM2/20/24
to
Ubiquitous
Feb 20, 2024, 10:32:05 AM2/20/24
to
On 2/19/2024 5:05 PM, Ubiquitous wrote:
> On Thursday, February 15, Acting Justice Juan Merchan in the Manhattan trial
> court ordered that Alvin Bragg's 34-count felony case against former
> president Trump, alleging falsification of business records regarding hush
> money he paid to adult performer Stormy Daniels in 2016, proceed to trial
> scheduled for March 25, 2024.
That's the correct decision. There is no valid reason to dismiss the charges.
> On Thursday, February 15, Acting Justice Juan Merchan in the Manhattan trial
> court ordered that Alvin Bragg's 34-count felony case against former
> president Trump, alleging falsification of business records regarding hush
> money he paid to adult performer Stormy Daniels in 2016, proceed to trial
> scheduled for March 25, 2024.
John Doe
Feb 20, 2024, 11:34:43 AM2/20/24
to
Governor Swill
Feb 21, 2024, 1:24:45 AM2/21/24
to
But it wasn't.
On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:11:33 -0000 (UTC), pothead <pot...@snakebite.com> wrote:
<snip>
burn one of the Clintons and failed.
Only took the Dems two years to get 91 indictments. And the list of civil suits and other
crimes and legal actions he has to answer for is just too long to memorize.
If he wasn't such a crook to start with he wouldn't be in this mess.
He's spent his whole life using the courts to escape debt and force others to do what he
wants. He's guilty of everything he's ever charged the Dems with and worse.
Imported undocumented workers from Poland then refused to pay them.
Has all his merch manufactured abroad instead of in America.
Will sue at the drop of a hat.
Lies when the truth would work better.
The list goes on and on.
Swill
--
Not left, not right, https://www.forwardparty.com/
"I don't want everybody to vote. As a matter of fact, our leverage in
the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
- Paul Weyrich, co founder of Heritage Foundation and Moral Majority
Not left, not right, https://www.forwardparty.com/
Heroyam slava! Glory to the Heroes!
Sláva Ukrajíni! Glory to Ukraine!
Putin tse prezervatyv! Putin is a condom!
Go here to donate to Ukrainian relief.
<https://www2.deloitte.com/ua/uk/pages/registration-forms/help-cities.html>
On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:11:33 -0000 (UTC), pothead <pot...@snakebite.com> wrote:
<snip>
>And the progressive left continue to deny that there is an underlying conspiracy to block Trump
>from getting elected.
>It boggles the mind.
>
>Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
>hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
>have opened up Pandora's Box.
The shoe *IS* on the other foot. The incompetent Republicans spent thirty years trying to
>from getting elected.
>It boggles the mind.
>
>Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
>hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
>have opened up Pandora's Box.
burn one of the Clintons and failed.
Only took the Dems two years to get 91 indictments. And the list of civil suits and other
crimes and legal actions he has to answer for is just too long to memorize.
If he wasn't such a crook to start with he wouldn't be in this mess.
He's spent his whole life using the courts to escape debt and force others to do what he
wants. He's guilty of everything he's ever charged the Dems with and worse.
Imported undocumented workers from Poland then refused to pay them.
Has all his merch manufactured abroad instead of in America.
Will sue at the drop of a hat.
Lies when the truth would work better.
The list goes on and on.
Swill
--
Not left, not right, https://www.forwardparty.com/
"I don't want everybody to vote. As a matter of fact, our leverage in
the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
- Paul Weyrich, co founder of Heritage Foundation and Moral Majority
Not left, not right, https://www.forwardparty.com/
Heroyam slava! Glory to the Heroes!
Sláva Ukrajíni! Glory to Ukraine!
Putin tse prezervatyv! Putin is a condom!
Go here to donate to Ukrainian relief.
<https://www2.deloitte.com/ua/uk/pages/registration-forms/help-cities.html>
pothead
Feb 21, 2024, 4:50:58 PM2/21/24
to
On 2024-02-21, Governor Swill <governo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> But it wasn't.
>
> On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:11:33 -0000 (UTC), pothead <pot...@snakebite.com> wrote:
><snip>
>>And the progressive left continue to deny that there is an underlying conspiracy to block Trump
>>from getting elected.
>>It boggles the mind.
>>
>>Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
>>hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
>>have opened up Pandora's Box.
>
> The shoe *IS* on the other foot. The incompetent Republicans spent thirty years trying to
> burn one of the Clintons and failed.
Only because corrupt, deep state Comey let her go.
> But it wasn't.
>
> On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:11:33 -0000 (UTC), pothead <pot...@snakebite.com> wrote:
><snip>
>>And the progressive left continue to deny that there is an underlying conspiracy to block Trump
>>from getting elected.
>>It boggles the mind.
>>
>>Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
>>hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
>>have opened up Pandora's Box.
>
> The shoe *IS* on the other foot. The incompetent Republicans spent thirty years trying to
> burn one of the Clintons and failed.
> Only took the Dems two years to get 91 indictments. And the list of civil suits and other
> crimes and legal actions he has to answer for is just too long to memorize.
Trump has been around in the public for decades.
So why all of a sudden do the Dems go after him with their kangaroo courts?
> If he wasn't such a crook to start with he wouldn't be in this mess.
> He's spent his whole life using the courts to escape debt and force others to do what he
> wants. He's guilty of everything he's ever charged the Dems with and worse.
Try suing GM if your brakes on your brand new car failed on the way home from the dealership and
you caused a serious accident.
The average person will be tied up in the courts for years, if not decades.
Who has that kind of money?
GM does, that's who.
> Imported undocumented workers from Poland then refused to pay them.
> Has all his merch manufactured abroad instead of in America.
> Will sue at the drop of a hat.
Ask Barbra Streisand who does her landscaping.
> Lies when the truth would work better.
> The list goes on and on.
>
> Swill
I look at what they have done as POTUS or VP etc.
And Trump made life much better.
Biden has destroyed the US.
The deep state is terrified of Trump which is why they are trying everything they can to take him
down. I'm surprised he hasn't been assassinated by now.
Siri Cruise
Feb 21, 2024, 8:23:52 PM2/21/24
to
pothead wrote:
>>> Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
>>> hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
>>> have opened up Pandora's Box.
>> The shoe*IS* on the other foot. The incompetent Republicans spent thirty years trying to
>>> Just wait until the shoe is on the other foot and it's a progressive candidate getting attacked. I
>>> hear the snowflakes whining already. And this will happen at some point because the progressives
>>> have opened up Pandora's Box.
>> burn one of the Clintons and failed.
> Only because corrupt, deep state Comey let her go.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mccarthy-says-communists-are-in-state-department
> Only because corrupt, deep state Comey let her go.
During a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator Joseph
McCarthy (Republican-Wisconsin) claims that he has a list with the
names of over 200 members of the Department of State that are
“known communists.” The speech vaulted McCarthy to national
prominence and sparked a nationwide hysteria about subversives in
the American government.
Speaking before the Ohio County Women’s Republican Club in
Wheeling, West Virginia, Senator McCarthy waved before his
audience a piece of paper. According to the only published
newspaper account of the speech, McCarthy said that, “I have here
in my hand a list of 205 [State Department employees] that were
known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist
Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the
policy of the State Department.” In the next few weeks, the number
fluctuated wildly, with McCarthy stating at various times that
there were 57, or 81, or 10 communists in the Department of State.
In fact, McCarthy never produced any solid evidence that there was
even one communist in the State Department.
--
Siri Seal of Disavowal #000-001. Disavowed. Denied. @
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' /|\
The Church of the Holey Apple .signature 3.2 / \
of Discordian Mysteries. This post insults Islam. Mohamed
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