Why Trump should win his NY hush money trial

So, according to the Trumpers, the Orange Asshair gets to pay porn stars and others for their silence as long as he uses his own personal account! He’s free to influence the election as long as he’s using a personal account!

Errm, that’s not the law. He’s ****ed.

 

Lotsa adult conversation going on here for sure...

 

I agree. The effort against Hunter Biden is also political prosecution. The point is that we need to stop it.

 

Hunter is likely guilty of what he is being charged with.
Why should these people be let off the hook just because they are part of the political elite?

 

Not whining, just informing. It is a little frightening that you don't recognize the political nature of these prosecutions. Do you also approve of the political prosecution of Hunter Biden?

 

Get us back on track.

 

OK. Just consider that when the DOJ reviewed the case Bragg has mounted against they decided there was nothing there. What Trump did was actually a misdemeanor the statute of limitations of which expired years ago. If you can't see the political nature of these prosecutions then you are either naive or blinded by partisanship.

 

He is. The only question that I have is about it is whether he's being more harshly treated than others in the same situation.

 

The DOJ said there was no crime. It is the reason they never took up the case.

 

I disagree that the statute of limitations should apply here. If that is your only argument then we will just have to agree to disagree

 

Yes I would mind doing that.

 

Oh 100%

But if it had been me or you doing this, we would be in jail right now.

 

They have their opinion, Alan Bragg has his.

When did the DOJ say this?

 

If it were you or he, there would be no political prosecution at all.

 

Trump Prepares For Monday's 'Fake Biden Trial' With 'Highly Conflicted' Manhattan Judge With The Tweezed Eyebrows

Sununu pledges support "even if convicted..."

As Sununu points out the trials have become such obvious farces that the votes view them as reality tv, whereas the key voting issues are Peace, Prosperity, Border, and Foreign Policy, all areas where Trump's record is clearly better than Election Rigging Joe's.

Trump's best defense is simply the truth:

'Misreporting business expenses is normally, at most, a misdemeanor. Bragg seeks to ratchet it up to a felony here by arguing that the misreporting was done to cover up a crime. That alleged crime is a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). The theory is that Trump’s payments to Daniels were campaign expenditures and thus needed to be publicly reported as such.'

'There is one big problem with this theory: The payments to Daniels were not campaign payments.'

'Political candidates do things all the time that are “for the purpose of influencing an election,” but that, nonetheless, are not considered campaign expenditures. For example, a candidate cannot buy a new suit, get his teeth whitened, or pay for cosmetic surgery with campaign funds, even if he does so for the purpose of looking good on the campaign trail.'

'That’s because, in campaign finance law, these types of expenditures are known as “personal use.” FECA specifically prohibits the conversion of campaign funds to personal use, defined as any expenditure “used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s election campaign.”'

'The provision is a core part of the law. A candidate cannot use a campaign contribution to buy an expensive watch, no matter how good it will make him look on the campaign trail or how much it will help him stay on schedule. He can’t buy a cashmere top coat, even if he feels he needs it for door-to-door campaigning in the wintry cold of the New Hampshire primary. Campaign contributions must be used for obligations that exist solely because of the campaign — think campaign staff and headquarters, advertising, travel to campaign events, polling, focus groups, speech writers, and such. They can’t be used to buy the candidate anything that might in some way be helpful to his campaign.'

'Herein lies the most frightening part of this prosecution: Had Trump made these payments with campaign funds, it seems a near certainty he would now be facing criminal charges for a knowing and willful diversion of campaign funds to pay personal obligations. If Bragg’s prosecution is successful, it will mean a candidate can use campaign funds to pay almost any obligation that, the candidate might argue, would benefit his candidacy. Perhaps worse, zealous prosecutors could get a candidate coming or going — falsification of records if campaign funds are not used, and illegal personal use if campaign funds are used.'

https://thefederalist.com/2024/04/1...hing-to-do-with-alvin-bragg-or-judge-merchan/

Read the whole thing.

 

Back before the statute of limitations expired. The DOJ let it expire.

 

Does it bother you that you are unaware that Federal prosecutors thoroughly investigated this and determined that it was not chargeable?

Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy has the best line on this farce: Bragg “turns an uncharged misdemeanor into 34 felonies [but] when dealing with violent crime in Manhattan, he turns felonies into misdemeanors.”

 

They did not decide that. They simply declined to continue. Why?

When did they say that?

 

Please let them know. I’d hate to see misinformation spread because of their ignorance and carelessness!

 

@RodB where is your source? Now we have other posters repeating your claim, and it’s important to clear the record up.

 

The DOJ did not say that.

 

I got a chuckle out of Trump claiming that him being prosecuted for falsifying documents to conceal crimes was an assault on America. Uh, no, Orange Man, just you.

 

How could Judge Merchan miss this?

 

Lemming off the cliff....

 

As an attorney, I assume you know that to pay something out of his campaign account, it would have to be an expense that must be 100% solely for the benefit of his campaign. A businessman campaigning for office paying to prevent reputational harm impacting his personal and professional life has a personal benefit and is, therefore, legally not a campaign expense. He could have been prosecuted if he had paid for this out of his campaign funds because it would have benefitted him personally and professionally. You'd also criticize him for using campaign donations to pay someone extorting him. Bragg's ridiculous prosecution claims there is no personal impact on Trump if an allegation of an affair went public, and that is ridiculous on its face.