[tomder55]

Andrew McCarthy helped me figure it out. This case is Alvin Bragg's version of 'stop the steal' . (isn't it ironic that Trump is being prosecuted by a guy named Bragg)

Yes, of course, Bragg has indicted Trump for a nonsensical business-records falsification offense — a mere misdemeanor that he has abusively tried to inflate into 34 felonies. But that’s not what he and Democrats are really alleging.

What they want to say, instead, is that Trump stole the 2016 election. Only they can’t do that. After all, that would make them election deniers — just like Trump.

‘Hush money’ is not a crime, and Bragg has no case against Trump (nypost.com)

[tomder55]

So how would former Presidents fared with Smith's standards applied ?

Lincoln suspended habeas corpus . Chief Justice Roger Taney ruled only Congress had that power. Lincoln ignored his decision until the end of the war. Under Smith's standards Lincoln could've been prosecuted after he left office.

Truman seized steel mills during the Korea war. SCOTUS ruled that was in violation of the Constitution. No conspiracy charges were ever made against Truman.

Every President since WWII has taken military action without Congressional authorization. None have been charged .

There have been many cases that support immunity for official acts . The only question really on the table is if Trump's actions were "official acts ".
This is new territory .How the court decides is anyone's guess.

[jlisenbe]

The hatred that exists out there for Trump is something to see. It's similar to what was there for Obama but a good deal more intense. No doubt that much of it is generated by his personality, but the remainder, which is a lot, is difficult to pinpoint. I'm sure some of it has to do with the fact that he derailed the Hillary machine. For that matter, he derailed the liberal/progressive political freight train which was thought to be ready to pull into the station as a permanent exhibit. He also made appointments to SCOTUS that did away (somewhat) with a woman's supposed right to have her unborn baby killed. But even with all of that, it is a little puzzling to me to explain this incredible hatred that exists.

[tomder55]

Trump will likely go to jail . Havey Weintein will likely go free.

Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York appeals court: The latest (yahoo.com)

[tomder55]

Bragg may regret having David Pecker (what a perfect name for a tabloid publisher ) as his opening witness . Pecker is in the process of destroying Bragg's case .He testified that Trump “had no idea what [he] was talking about” when he asked about reimbursing Michael Cohen for the Stormy payment. He said that the "catch and kill" stategery was concocted by him and Cohen ;not Trump.

Trump's lawyer should also point out that a rag like the 'National Enquirer' ;not fit for bird cage liner ,was the publication uses to 'catch and kill ' a Trump scandal while it was the Sllmes ;Compost , and the rest of the compliant press that was used to 'catch and kill ' the Hunter Biden laptop story .

[tomder55]

Judge Merchan slapped Trump with 9 counts of contempt of court . Fines of $1000 each and he threatened Trump with jail time .
He ordered Trump to take down 7 Truth Social Posts and 2 campaign ads .

Meanwhile others in the case like Michael Cohen are under no such restraint .

[jlisenbe]

Unless they can come up with something against Trump that really has some genuine legal traction, this could all very sell serve to enhance his chances of winning.

[tomder55]

Time Mag has a hit piece on Trump . They interviewed him and their take is that he plans to be a dictator if elected
(going on sale May 17 but they had to get this out asap)

Every election is billed as a national turning point. This time that rings true. To supporters, the prospect of Trump 2.0, unconstrained and backed by a disciplined movement of true believers, offers revolutionary promise. To much of the rest of the nation and the world, it represents an alarming risk. A second Trump term could bring “the end of our democracy,” says presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, “and the birth of a new kind of authoritarian presidential order.”

Donald Trump on What His Second Term Would Look Like | TIME


Hate to break it to them . We have been living in a new kind of authoritarian presidential order since President 'I have a pen and a phone'. It has been rule by executive order since.

[jlisenbe]

Great post, Tom. Thanks for sharing all of this.

[tomder55]

Judge Merchan is a partisan hack and he is not afraid to let it be known. 2020 he made token donations to Clueless Joe's campaign; the 'Progressive Turn Out Project' ;and to 'Stop Republicans' just so he could be on record.

That alone should've been a disqualifier. But here he is ,hell bent to convict Trump for a crime that is not spelled out in the indictment.(conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act spending limits).5th Amendment......
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,


And Trump may face jail time for reacting to Michael Cohen's non-stop commentary of the trial on TikTok. Cohen is scheduled to be the star witness for the prosecution at the trial.

Donald 'Von zInPantz' Is Officially in the Hush-Money-Trial Record (businessinsider.com)

But his antics could backfire .


Michael Cohen is cashing in on the Trump trial with TikTok livestreams -- and it could be a problem - ABC News (go.com)


I am almost positive that the biased prosecutor ;judge and jury will find Trump guilty . I also believe Trump will eventually get the conviction overturned due to many due process violations .

How a conviction affects the election is unknown.

[tomder55]

And what was Cohn's REAL beef with Trump ? From testimony we know that he was enraged that he was not offered a job in the Trump administration.

Davidson, who as the porn star's lawyer at the time helped arrange the payment, testified Cohen was "very despondent and saddened" during a long phone call after Trump won the election. "I thought he was going to kill himself," Davidson said.
Davidson said he recalled Cohen saying: "I can’t believe I’m not going to Washington. I’ve saved that guy’s so many times, you don’t even know."
He said Cohen, as Trump's personal lawyer, had hoped to be appointed attorney general or White House chief of staff.
In recorded phone calls played for the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates on Thursday, Cohen mused about his next steps after Trump’s victory, including whether he should “go rogue” or write a tell-all book.
He eventually did both and emerged as a fierce critic of Trump.

Trump trial hears Michael Cohen was 'despondent' he was denied a government post | Reuters

[jlisenbe]

How a conviction affects the election is unknown.

I think it will all come down to perceptions. If the general public gets the perception that Trump has been railroaded, then they could very well respond to that with sympathy votes. If they get the impression that he's a scumbag criminal, then it will work against him. I suspect the first option will be the prevailing one.

[tomder55]

completely uncharted territory. He can run a campaign from jail .But can he serve from jail ? (“unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” 25th amendment ) But that would require cooperation from his VEEP and cabinet . Not likely

Trump elected if convicted leaves us with many issues that by themselves are constitutional crisis'

[tomder55]

Keith Davidson lawyer for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal ;both said they had sex with Trump; is apparently a serial extortionist.
During cross examination we learn that he represented women who made the same charges against Charlie Sheen ; and people selling sex tapes of Hulk Hogan and Tia Tequila. Trump attorney Emil Bove asked him if these deals and others required that Davidson understand "getting right up to the line without committing extortion."

Trump lawyer suggests hush money payment was extortion | Reuters

In the Hogan case ;Tampa Police investigated him for extortion but he ultimately was not charged.


As for Trump's reason for making a NDA with Stormy Daniels ;his former aide Hope Hicks testified that his concern was not the election. He just did not want Melania to find out about his philandering.

She said Trump did not want his wife Melania to see the story, which also included allegations that he had an affair with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having sex with either woman.
"He was concerned about how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure the newspapers weren’t delivered to the residence that morning,” Hicks said.

Former Trump aide Hope Hicks testifies he told her to deny Stormy Daniels affair | Reuters

[tomder55]

In the document case ;the prosecution admitted to the judge that they tampered with the evidence . They first claimed that the boxes seized were kept exactly as they were when taken. But now they admit to rearranging the evidence.

“The Government acknowledges that this is inconsistent with what Government counsel previously understood and represented to the Court,”

(page 8 footnote)
Microsoft Word - Response to Woodward motion for extension (5.3.24).docx (justthenews.com)

Part of Trump's defense will be that the files were stored in chronological order as Trump received them and that WH personnel boxed them to ship to Trump without Trump reviewing the content . So he would not know if there were classified documents among them. His defense will also likely be that the boxes remained untouched since delivery . The prosecution rifling through them harms that argument and constitutes tampering .

Smith's team tries to downplay the significance. It is up to Judge Cannon to decide how critical evidence tampering is in this case. Normally it is a game changer . (except Evita's destruction of evidence ....she got a pass on that )


Prosecutors: Docs in boxes seized from Mar-a-Lago were inadvertently jumbled - POLITICO

Donald Trump Demands Jack Smith Be Arrested After Document Revelation (newsweek.com)

[tomder55]

who am I kidding ?13of 18 jurors and alternates get their new from the Slimes .

Where Jurors in Trump Hush-Money Trial Say They Get Their News - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

[tomder55]

suppose I started a joke by saying a disbarred serial convicted perjurer was called to take an oath to testify truthfully at a trial .............


This week Michael Cohen will be called as the star witness in the Stormy Daniels trial .


Cohen : "this time I really mean it "

3 weeks into the trial and still trying to figure out what crime Trump did.

[jlisenbe]

I still suspect this will all work in Trump's favor. The clown show aspect of the trial will make the dems look awkwardly desperate. Perhaps best of all, it will make Trump's public comments less frequent.