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