Month: March 2024

Hush Money Trial to begin, other court case issues to be resolved slowly

by Dave

On April 15, the Hush Money case begins. Finally Trump’s delay schemes got him only an extra 20 days. I’m glad. Could end in mid June. The judge will not put up with other ways to delay this case. My prediction – Trump will be sentenced to jail time, but this will be stayed pending his appeal. The other cases have definitely gotten bogged down.

The Supreme Court knows they control the timing of the federal January 6 trial with the presidential immunity case and they don’t seem anxious to fast track this case. The court traditionally releases the most controversial decision at the end of the term, so it could be decided from June to early July. Almost every legal expert expects Trump to lose on this one.

Trump lawyers are filing dozens of pre-trial motions in the Classified Documents case. The Special Counsel suggested a July start date, while Trump’s team hopes to push this off to next year, obviously in hopes that Trump would win the Presidency. The Special Counsel is especially concerned that Judge Cannon will allow the list of witnesses to be made public before trial. Also they object to needless hearings related to dismissal of the case.

They [Trump’s lawyers] want the judge to hold a hearing to force the government to produce evidence of what they say is a “selective and vindictive” prosecution. Prosecutors say no such evidence exists and that it would be unprecedented to grant a hearing in the matter.

See link: Trump’s trial over classified documents in Florida could start as soon as this summer

Many legal experts, are critical of Judge Cannon’s decisions, saying they are not legally sound and result in complicating and delaying the trial. See link below:

Salon: “Very, very troubling”: Ex-judges worry Judge Cannon’s pro-Trump rulings “clearly suggest bias”

The Special Counsel can appeal a wrong decision, but this can take months.

There are both legal and practical aspects in some court decisions. I can understand the practical aspects a lot easier. I stated from a practical perspective, the voters decide elections, not the courts. So, I was glad the Supreme Court decided in Trump’s favor on the disqualification case.

The second one happened yesterday, with the bond in the civil business fraud case being lowered to 175 million from 464 million dollars, and giving Trump an extra 10 days to secure the bond. The appellate court did not explain their reasoning, but since the entire case is under review by the appellate court, it seemed unnecessary to force liquidation of Trump’s assets at this point. I was glad because Trump could not whine about how they [the DA’s office] were stealing his hotels.

So, New York Appellate Court was nice to Trump on the bond issue. Didn’t help, as he made some comments about how terrible NY was treating him, as follows:

Fact check: Trump tells ‘mind-bogglingly nonsensical’ story about the New York Stock Exchange

Now, once the Appellate Court rules, then it is a new ball game. Trump must pay up or his assets can be liquidated. And if it comes to this, it is going to be slow and messy.

The Georgia case is also going slow, as Judge McAfee tossed out 6 charges, as not being fully explained in legal terms. DA Willis can file briefs to get the charges restored. No trial date has been scheduled.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Biden is the right choice for democracy

by Dave

This election is extremely important. All candidates talk big about democracy and the rule of law. But, Trump proved to the American people he only believes in democracy when he wins an election. The “Stop the Steal” effort by Trump and his supporters, post 2020 election, is a sad chapter in our history. Donald Trump encouraged the mob that ransacked our capitol, because he thought he was more important than the country.

“Anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States … President Trump demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution.” Mike Pence, Former Vice President of the United States.

“He will always put his own interests and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest.” Bill Barr, former Attorney General under Trump.

Trump urged his supporters to leave the Capitol only after hours of rioting, dozens of security police had been injured and five people had died. It could have been far worse. There was a huge arsenal of weapons, stored in a hotel room in Virginia, by the Oath Keepers. Their leader made the decision not to bring these weapons to the Capitol as it could tip off the police on his plans. We were perilously close to a massacre of elected officials in our Capitol. Number 1 target would have been Mike Pence, because he was in charge of counting the votes, as he was obligated to do as Vice President and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

The core group of attackers planned, by any means possible, to overcome the security forces and break the windows and doors of the Capitol building. By their testimony and Trump’s promise that he would join them on the morning before the attack, they felt like they were part of Trump’s army, to restore their leader to power. I’ve seen this before in other countries, where leaders or candidates for office blatantly disregard the rule of law, but never in my country.

Link: Capitol Rioters Were Armed to the Teeth and Ready for War

Trump would not condemn the attackers. He called those who participated in January 6 as patriots. To me, the real patriots were the Capitol police and many were injured as they tried to protect the elected officials.

In fact, Trump has stated he would pardon many of the rioters if re-elected.

Link: Trump vows to ‘free’ Jan. 6 defendants as one of his first acts if elect (Story updated March 12, 2024)

It is consistent with his claim that the US Department of Justice, under Biden, is corrupt. Of course, in the chaos of the riot, the investigation by the FBI of the many individuals responsible took time. Credit should be given to the many individual agents who poured over videos both outside and inside the Capitol.

A lot of credit goes to FBI Director, Chris Wray, a Trump appointee. In so many areas, ranging from cybercrimes to combating the influx of drugs, Director Wray has done an excellent job.

If elected, I think Trump will likely fire FBI Director Wray, because the FBI conducted a court approved search of Mar-a-Lago. He’ll find some pre-text to fire Wray. But the search was very personal.

Link: The GOP’s war on the FBI is paying off for Trump

Take Trump seriously. He is looking for revenge.

“The depths of his dishonesty is just astonishing to me… He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.” John Kelly, Secretary of Homeland Security and White House Chief of Staff

Biden will keep our country strong, by his leadership. Remember, Christopher Wray was Trump’s choice to lead the FBI for the next 10 years. And Biden kept him on. Democracy is built around a peaceful transfer of power through elections. The people at the ballot box decide, not a mob attacking the Capitol.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Hush Money Trial: A case destined for a guilty verdict

by Dave

It will begin on March 25, 2024. The legal name is The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. The indictment from the Grand Jury lists 34 counts of falsifying business records by Trump. Trump will be found guilty, probably in early May. The exact charges might not be known until the end of the trial and this is the difference between paying a fine or serving time. No matter what, it will be appealed.

Trump will have his defenders. It is more of a campaign to minimize the damage and deflect this away from Trump.

First, commentators on Fox News and conservative media sites will explain how during a campaign, funds can get misappropriated, and generally this is handled by a fine. Also, the amount of money, $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, is next to nothing during a campaign doling out millions of dollars every day. Strategy #1 is this is selective prosecution for a minor campaign funds misappropriation and grossly overcharging Trump.

PR strategy #2 will be the conspiracy angle, for those particularly gullible. Deflect, deflect and lie. Biden, DOJ and yes, George Soros, are involved in a scheme to stop Trump from winning the election. These accusations are nearly two years old, and have been debunked by just about every fact checking site. I won’t go into details, because it is nonsense. Like all conspiracy stuff, they take the 1% that is true, and build on. The old game of connecting the dots that don’t exist. Those who want to find out what’s not true, what “they” say on Facebook, Youtube, etc, you can search Soros, Mathew Colangelo, DOJ and Hush Money case and get a ton of baseless conspiracy stuff.

I note that George Soros is 93 years old philanthropist, who donates money for worthwhile causes. He has never donated a cent to Alvin Bragg, but charitable organizations which he helps have. Who will conspiracy theorists blame for the world’s problems, if he passes. Seriously!

On the legal front, Trump’s team will vigorously argue that this should be a misdemeanor charge, not a felony. Legal experts acknowledge they may prevail on this argument, so Trump just pays a fine. But, if not, then they will appeal. That’s when this case becomes really interesting.

There is also the gag order issue, which should be resolved by the judge very soon. Other minor legal issues involve questions that can be asked of jurors to identify bias towards Trump. This will all be resolved by the judge.

— Is it a felony or misdemeanor?

Every time a payment was made, it was recorded as a legal expense to the campaign. The indictment alleges Donald Trump was aware of these false entries, so he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. But if it is a misdemeanor, there will be just fines; no jail time. See explanation from AP News (link provided at bottom):

“Falsifying business records can be charged as a misdemeanor, a lower-level crime that would not normally result in prison time. It rises to a felony — which carries up to four years behind bars — if there was an intent to commit or conceal a second crime. Bragg said his office routinely brings felony false business records cases.

In Trump’s case, Bragg said the phony business records were designed to cover up alleged state and federal election law violations. The $130,000 payment to Daniels exceeded the federal cap on campaign contributions, Bragg said. He also cited a New York election law that makes it a crime to promote a candidate by unlawful means.

“That is what this defendant did when he falsified business records in order to conceal unlawful efforts to promote his candidacy, and that is why we are here,” one of the case prosecutors, Chris Conroy, told the judge Tuesday.”

Wikipedia has similar comments:

“The indictment raises novel and complex legal issues. Legal experts contacted by the New York Times said that the indictment combines business records charges with state election law in a way that had never previously been done in a case involving a federal campaign.”

The decision of whether to charge Trump with committing misdemeanors or felonies will be up to the judge. Legal experts have stated that this may be done at the end of the trial. If Trump is found guilty of felonies, he will appeal.

Links:

AP Analysis: Trump hush money case raises thorny legal issues

Wikipedia: Prosecution of Trump in New York

Wikipedia usually updates their articles as the trial progresses.

— Bottom Line

DA Alvin Bragg is doing his job of enforcing the laws of New York. No one is above the law. Not Trump nor Bob Menendez, a Democrat. In these cases, those accused have plenty of resources, to hire the finest defense lawyers. They have the right to appeal.

And it is entirely possible, after all the evidence is heard, the charge is reduced to a misdemeanor if DA Bragg fails to make the case of a felony. So, I can see only two outcomes, guilty of 34 misdemeanors and Trump pays a fine, and guilty of 34 felonies, and Trump appeals his sentence. I don’t see any chance of not guilty.

Stay tuned,

Dave