Here is the smoking gun evidence in the hush money trial

truth and justice · Apr 25, 2024

Wild Bill Kelsoe said: ↑

Most of the counts occured in 2015.
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All 34 counts relate to 2017. Trump illegality began in 2016 as the illegal acts in 2015 prior were carried out by AMI and Cohen who both pleaded guilty to the charges.

garyd · Apr 25, 2024

Patricio Da Silva said: ↑

There appears to be a point of contention about the fact that the 12 checks of $35k each went to Cohen to total $420,000. So, how could that be? Or so the argument goes-- because, we know how much of a tightwad Trump is, right? He never ever would pay more than twice as much to a lawyer than was needed, as he only owed Cohen (assuming he did owe him) only $130K, right? Trump's not going to pay back $420k, for a $130k debt, right? So it doesn't make sense, therefore, this whole claim is bunk.

Right?

Wrong.

Rachel Maddow in the clip below, reads from the court Transcript. Turns out that Weisselberg wrote all of this down, even on side notes on bank statements, the nature of the conspiracy. So, this is 'smoking gun' evidence. (Note that the court transcript Maddow is reading was taken from the Prosecutor's opening argument, which occurred on today [Monday 4/22] ).

And if you can't watch the 10 minute clip from her one hour show, below is a transcript from the video:

MADDOW:
I was at the courthouse today in Manhattan. I was in the courtroom for opening statements for this first criminal trial of a former president.

[...truncated irrelevant court room description...]

[Maddow reads from the court transcript (non transcript items in brackets) ]

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo: "In January, 2017, before the defendant moved to Washington to begin his presidency, Michael Cohen met with Alan Weisel Burke of the Trump Organization to talk about how Michael Cohen was going to be reimbursed for the payoff to Stormy Daniels. Weisselberg you will remember is one of Trump Org's Chief Financial Officers. He was the one of the defendant's longest-serving and most trusted employees.

Neither Trump nor the Trump Organization could just write a check to Michael Cohen for $130,000.00 with a memo line that said, "Reimbursement for star payoff"; They had to disguise the nature of the repayment. So they agreed to cook the books and make it look like the repayment was actually income, payments for services rendered instead of a reimbursement. Allen Weisselberg asked Mr. Cohen to bring a copy of a bank statement showing the $130,000.00 payment Michael Cohen had made to keep Stormy Daniels quiet before the election. Weisselberg and Cohen agreed to a total repayment amount of $420,000.00.

Here's how they got to that number. This is good. They started with $130,000.00 that Trump road Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels payoff. Then, they added $50,000.00 for a separate reimbursement Cohen was claiming, which had to do with tech services he paid for during the campaign. That adds up to $180(k). Then they agreed to double that amount to $360,000 to account for taxes. Now, of course, if Trump was just reimbursing Michael Cohen, there was no need to gross it up for taxes. They doubled it because their plan was to call it income instead of a reimbursement.

If Michael Cohen was getting money they were calling income, he would have to pay taxes on it. Cohen was close to a 50% tax bracket, so to make them whole on the $180,000 the defendant told him, they had to double the amount to $360(k). Then, he added another $60,000 as a year-end bonus and all that comes out to a total of $420,000. And Allen Weisselberg wrote all of that down! Whereupon I annoyed the people sitting near me because I snorted out loud. 'Whoo,He wrote it all down?" If you were a fan of 'The Wire,' this is the scene where Stringer Bell turns to the young man and says are you taking notes on it on a criminal conspiracy? Using a lot of swear words. Yes, yes, He was taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo: "Allen Weisselberg wrote all of that down. (Maddow takes a deep breath, "I can't believe this is real!")

The bank statement I told you about that he asked Michael Cohen to bring to their meeting, the bank statement from the Essential Consultants account, which showed the $130,000 wire Cohen had made to keep (Keith) Davidson (Nat Enquirer exec) to keep Stormy Daniels quiet, you will see in this trial Allen Weisselberg's handwriting down the side of that bank statement laying out every one of the steps that I just described, showing how they converted the $130,000 payoff amount to the 420 grand Cohen was going to get paid back as he grossed up way to disguise it not as reimbursement but as income and they took notes about it every step of the way and the prosecution has the notes.

(And then here's the kicker) Matthew Colangelo: "Michael Cohen and Allen Weisselberg met with Trump, who approved the repayment amount of 420 grand on the $130,000 Stormy Daniels payment and a few other expenses. You will see evidence at trial that Trump was a very frugal businessman. He believed in pinching pennies, he believed in watching every dollar, he believed in negotiating every bill. It is all over all of the books he has written. He ran the Trump Organization with total control. You will hear testimony about his relentless focus on the bottom line. When it came time to pay Michael Cohen back for the catch and kill deal, you will see he didn't negotiate the price down, he doubled it and he doubled it so they could disguise it as income. You will hear evidence the Trump Organization was not in the practice of paying people twice what they owed for anything. This might be the only time that ever happened. Trump's willingness to do so here shows just how important it was to him to hide the true nature of Cohen's illegal payment to Ms. Daniels and the overall election conspiracy that they had launched in August, 2015."

(Prosecutors saying Trump is paying a lot for this and he never pays for anything. That is how important and sensitive this was. Interestingly, moments later, the defense used the same set of facts to make the opposite point to the jury, saying yes, Trump really is so cheap and so unwilling to pay for anything so, this must have been some other thing he was paying for, not the thing they have HANDWRITTEN NOTES FROM HIS CFO ABOUT)

Now, how Bragg got '34 counts'? -- note that there were 34 entries related to the 12 checks, so I don't know how that is figured, but, that's beside the point. In NY, false business records are a misdemeanor, unless they were to used to cover up a felony, and the felony doesn't have to be a state crime, or within the statute of limitations. That's NY law, as I understand it.

But, what were those laws that Trump supposedly broke, relating to Stormy Daniels that elevated the misdemeanor false business entries?

I don't know what is in the charging document, but I queried Copilot, and it reports the following (potential crimes)

Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA): This law governs federal campaign finance regulations. Key provisions include:

Contribution Limits: FECA sets limits on how much individuals, corporations, and other entities can contribute to political campaigns.

Reporting Requirements: Candidates and committees must disclose contributions and expenditures to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Prohibition on Corporate Contributions: Corporations are generally prohibited from making direct contributions to federal candidates.

Violation of Contribution Limits: If the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels was considered a campaign contribution, it should have been reported as such. Concealing it could be a violation of contribution limits.

False Statements: Making false statements or providing false information to the FEC is also a violation. If Trump’s team knowingly misrepresented the purpose of the payment, it could be considered a false statement.

Conspiracy: If multiple individuals conspired to hide the payment, they could be charged with conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

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Trump Paid Cohen 430k for services rendered? and called the payments to a lawyer legal fees? That's insane and please note scotus already has a precedent regarding people spending their own money on their own campaigns for whatever office in Buckley. Again there is no crime here.

popscott · Apr 25, 2024

An honest jury could not in good faith make a judgement one way or another as to the tangle mess this phuster cluck has turned into.... can they actually make a judgement when the actual crime is not even clear to the attorneys, let alone a normal citizen (well, a NY citizen).....

Patricio Da Silva · Apr 25, 2024

garyd said: ↑

Trump Paid Cohen 430k for services rendered? and called the payments to a lawyer legal fees? That's insane and please note scotus already has a precedent regarding people spending their own money on their own campaigns for whatever office in Buckley. Again there is no crime here.
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The payments were concealed but de facto campaign contributions which is a felony.

popscott · Apr 25, 2024

Patricio Da Silva said: ↑

The payments were concealed but de facto campaign contributions which is a felony.
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NO it wasn’t.

garyd · Apr 25, 2024

Patricio Da Silva said: ↑

The payments were concealed but de facto campaign contributions which is a felony.
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Oh what office was Cohen running for?

Wild Bill Kelsoe · Apr 25, 2024

truth and justice said: ↑

All 34 counts relate to 2017. Trump illegality began in 2016 as the illegal acts in 2015 prior were carried out by AMI and Cohen who both pleaded guilty to the charges.
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The catch and kill took place in 2015.

Wild Bill Kelsoe · Apr 25, 2024

Patricio Da Silva said: ↑

The payments were concealed but de facto campaign contributions which is a felony.
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Trump can donate as much money as he wants to his campaign.

truth and justice · Apr 25, 2024

Wild Bill Kelsoe said: ↑

The catch and kill took place in 2015.
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The 34 charges relate to events in 2017

Wild Bill Kelsoe · Apr 25, 2024

truth and justice said: ↑

The 34 charges relate to events in 2017
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Statute of limitations is two years.

truth and justice · Apr 25, 2024

Wild Bill Kelsoe said: ↑

Statute of limitations is two years.
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34 felony charges. You even wrote it yourself . Is your memory really that bad!

popscott · Apr 25, 2024

truth and justice said: ↑

34 felony charges. You even wrote it yourself . Is your memory really that bad!
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Two misdemeanors with limitation run out don’t equal a felony.

Wild Bill Kelsoe · Apr 25, 2024

truth and justice said: ↑

34 felony charges. You even wrote it yourself . Is your memory really that bad!
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What's the concealed crime? Those charges are misdemeanors without a concealed crime.

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Here is the smoking gun evidence in the hush money trial

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