Trump: Set to declare 2024 presidential bid tonight; will indictments follow soon?

[Bob Armstrong]

Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)

Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Marchan

The trial overall is estimated to take about 8 weeks.

Live Trial Updates : https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04...d396a4debfd6ce

This is the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Witnesses for Prosecution

Witness: Mr. David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher.

Testified that he suppressed Trump stories.At a 2015 meeting at the Trump Tower, he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by buying up scandalous stories about the real estate mogul and suppressing them.

Witness: Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) - American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper.

Stormy Daniels is not central to the prosecution’s case, but her encounter with Trump led to a hush-money payment that turned into 34 felony charges against a former president. She held her own with Trump the Trump lawyer and continue to assert she was telling the truth, despite minor factual variations from prior statements. She said that she didn’t want money for her account of having had sex with Trump and that she wanted to “get the story out.” But she did strike a deal, accepting money to stay silent.

Trump Motion (24/5/9): request for a mistrial based on the argument that Daniels' changed her story about the alleged encounter - dismissed

Trump Motion (24/5/9): seeking to modify an existing gag order so the former president could talk publicly about Daniels - dismissed.

Update (24/5/13)

Witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney

"The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, is by far the Manhattan district attorney’s most important witness in the case and his expected appearance signals that the trial is entering its final stretch. Prosecutors say they may wrap up their presentation of evidence by the end of the week.

Cohen is expected to testify about his role in arranging hush money payments on Trump’s behalf during his first presidential campaign, including to porn actor Stormy Daniels, who told jurors last week that the $130,000 that she received in 2016 was meant to prevent her from going public about a sexual encounter she says she had with Trump in a hotel suite a decade earlier.


Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)

Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Marchan

There have been 4 weeks of Trial so far. The trial overall is estimated to take about 8 weeks.

Live Trial Updates : https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04...d396a4debfd6ce

This is the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Witnesses for Prosecution

Witness: Mr. David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher.

Testified that he suppressed Trump stories.At a 2015 meeting at the Trump Tower, he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by buying up scandalous stories about the real estate mogul and suppressing them.

Witness: Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) - American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper.

Stormy Daniels is not central to the prosecution’s case, but her encounter with Trump led to a hush-money payment that turned into 34 felony charges against a former president. She held her own with Trump the Trump lawyer and continue to assert she was telling the truth, despite minor factual variations from prior statements. She said that she didn’t want money for her account of having had sex with Trump and that she wanted to “get the story out.” But she did strike a deal, accepting money to stay silent.

Trump Motion (24/5/9): request for a mistrial based on the argument that Daniels' changed her story about the alleged encounter - dismissed

Trump Motion (24/5/9): seeking to modify an existing gag order so the former president could talk publicly about Daniels - dismissed.

Update (24/5/13)

Witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney

Direct Examination:

Cohen’s testimony about the Playboy model Karen McDougal, who says she had a nine-month affair with Trump, is important beyond Trump describing her to Cohen as “beautiful.” It cemented Trump’s attention to detail, which we’ve heard a lot about already. He constantly asked for updates on the hush money that American Media Inc., publisher of The National Enquirer, was paying at his direction to McDougal, replying, “Great!” or “Fantastic,” when Cohen delivered them.

Cohen’s tape of Trump discussing that deal landed hard when it was played, and not just because it was Trump’s voice talking about “150” — a clear reference to the $150,000 in hush money that Trump — through Cohen and A.M.I. — was originally going to pay McDougal. Trump’s micromanaging, which we’ve heard about for two weeks, came to life in a way that didn’t help him. And when Cohen dissected practically every moment of the call, there was no mistaking the meaning of the brief conversation.

https://messaging-custom-newsletters...d396a4debfd6ce

Cohen testified that he worked to bury negative stories on behalf of Trump and connected his former boss to a payoff made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, allegedly in exchange for her silence about an affair. It was part of a wider effort by Trump to save his 2016 presidential campaign by paying to hide lascivious details about his personal life from voters, and then hide those hush money payments with accounting fraud, prosecutors have alleged. Cohen told the jury that Trump told him that if news of a sexual encounter with Daniels got out, it would spell “disaster” for his White House bid. “This is a disaster, a total disaster,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Women will hate me. Guys may think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”

New York Sun (24/5/13)

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Trump's Legal Problems – Criminal # 4 (Of 4) – Mishandling Presidential Government Docs

Charge: 32 charges under the Espionage Act - Illegal handling of Presidential documents (At his Florida Home, Mar-a-Lago).The Espionage Act was passed in 1917.

https://www.nysun.com/article/trump-...0%202024-03-11

Prosecutor: Special Counsel, Jack Smith

Trial Judge: US District Judge Aileen Cannon

Application for Summary Dismissal (Thurs., March 14, 2024) - President Trump contended that the Espionage Act under which he is criminally charged is fatally flawed, an argument that, if vindicated, could mean the end of the case against him. He argued that the Espionage Act is unconstitutional as applied to former presidents.

Judgment: Reserved

Appeal Prospects: It could lead to the Supreme Court weighing the law under which whistle-blowers Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden were prosecuted, and a communist couple, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, were put to death.

Update (24/5/7)

Cannon's Trial Date Ruling (24/5/7) – 5 pages

• cancelled the May 20 trial date, postponing it indefinitely; no new date set.
• “it would be “imprudent” to finalize a new trial date now.”

• reasons -
• 1. still-unresolved issues in the case;
• 2. Trump is currently on trial in a separate case in Manhattan charging him in connection with hush money payments during the 2016 presidential election. This case involves several of the same lawyers representing him in the federal case in Florida.

Note: federal prosecutors’ will now be unable to bring Trump to trial before the November presidential election.


Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Trump's Legal Problems - Criminal # 1 (Of 4) – Insurrection

Charge: “Criminal Enterprise” to overturn the results of the 2020 election


Substantive Issue # 1 - The Sarbanes-Oxley Law

Relevant Current Case Before the USA Supreme Court: USA vs Fischer

Special Prosecutor, Jack Smith, decided to charge more than 350 January 6 defendants with violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was signed into law in 2002 in the wake of the implosions of Enron and WorldCom. The law is intended to punish crooks for “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding.”

The Nine [members of the USASC] mulled whether a law that punishes anyone who “alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record” is applicable to those who rioted at the Capitol, like Joseph Fischer, a police officer by trade. He pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, but contends that the Sarbanes-Oxley charges are instances of unlawful prosecutorial overreach. As his lawyer, Frederick William Ulrich, put it, that statute is “Enron-driven.”

The high court appeared open to that argument. Justice Clarence Thomas telegraphed that the government could be acting selectively, observing that “there have been many violent protests that have interfered with proceedings. Has the government applied this provision to other protests?” To that, Solicitor General Prelogar claimed that there has never been anything like January 6.

Justice Samuel Alito allowed that “what happened on Jan. 6 was very, very serious” but told General Prelogar that “we need to find out what are the outer reaches of this statute under your interpretation.” The solicitor general called one of the words at issue, “otherwise,” a “classic catchall.” Fischer’s counsel, though, finds it to be more of a “dragnet.” "

Relevance to Trump Case

USA S.C. Argument by Jack Smith, Special Prosecutor, against Trump

"Even if the Nine dismiss the Sarbanes-Oxley charges against the January 6 defendants, Mr. Smith is likely to argue that they should stick against Mr. Trump, who did not himself set foot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Instead, the special counsel argues, he engaged in the kind of obstruction contemplated by the statute. Two of the four charges Mr. Trump faces are based on Sarbanes-Oxley.

The relevant subsection mandates that someone is criminally culpable if “he alters, destroys, mutilates, or conceals a record, document, or other object, or attempts to do so, with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding.” The special counsel argues that the certification of the results of the 2020 election were such a proceeding.

Mr. Smith’s accusation that Mr. Trump pursued a “conspiracy to corruptly obstruct and impede the January 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified” could insulate the special counsel’s case from any Supreme Court ruling in the Fischer, or other, case, that upends the Department of Justice’s prosecution of the other defendants similarly charged."

The 45th president could ...be sent to jail for as much as 20 years under this draconian law known as Sarbanes-Oxley.

https://www.nysun.com/article/suprem...0%202024-04-16

Substantive Issue # 2 – Presidential Immunity

USA Supreme Court Hearing – Today (24/4/25)

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

It’s a historic day for the court, with the justices having an opportunity to decide once and for all whether former presidents can be prosecuted for official acts they take while in the White House.

But between a decades-old court case about Richard Nixon, and an obscure constitutional provision about presidential impeachments, there are likely to be some unfamiliar concepts and terms thrown about.

Central to Trump’s immunity argument is the claim that only a former president who was impeached and convicted by the Senate can be criminally prosecuted. Trump was impeached over his efforts to undo the election in the run-up to the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. But he was acquitted, not convicted, by the Senate in 2021.

Note: SC Hearings can be listened to live: the court’s website at supremecourt.gov.

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Trump's Nov. 2024 Presidential Election Prospects


Trump Leads in 5 Key States, as Young and Nonwhite Voters Express Discontent With Biden.

A new set of Times/Siena polls, including one with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reveal an erosion of support for the president among young and nonwhite voters upset about the economy and Gaza.

Mr. Trump was ahead among registered voters in a head-to-head match-up against Mr. Biden in five of six key states: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Mr. Biden led among registered voters in only one battleground state, Wisconsin.

The New York Times (24/5/13)

Bob A

[Frank Dixon]

Trump's New York 'Mistresses' cover-up trial' resumed this Monday, with the Judge once again warning the former president about his attacks on personnel associated with the trial.

The really spicy prosecution witnesses will start to appear this week! Trump is suffering!

[Frank Dixon]

I believe Trump will receive at least one felony conviction from his New York criminal trial. As to sentencing, who knows? I think anyone else would receive at least some jail time.

[Bob Armstrong]

Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)

Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Marchan

Live Trial Updates – May have Judge Marchan's Judgment: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04...d396a4debfd6ce

This is the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Witnesses for Prosecution

Witness: Mr. David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher.

Testified that he suppressed Trump stories.At a 2015 meeting at the Trump Tower, he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by buying up scandalous stories about the real estate mogul and suppressing them.

Witness: Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) - American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper.

Stormy Daniels is not central to the prosecution’s case, but her encounter with Trump led to a hush-money payment that turned into 34 felony charges against a former president. She held her own with Trump the Trump lawyer and continue to assert she was telling the truth, despite minor factual variations from prior statements. She said that she didn’t want money for her account of having had sex with Trump and that she wanted to “get the story out.” But she did strike a deal, accepting money to stay silent.

Trump Motion (24/5/9): request for a mistrial based on the argument that Daniels' changed her story about the alleged encounter - dismissed

Trump Motion (24/5/9): seeking to modify an existing gag order so the former president could talk publicly about Daniels - dismissed.

Witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney

Cohen testified that he worked to bury negative stories on behalf of Trump and connected his former boss to a payoff made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, allegedly in exchange for her silence about an affair. It was part of a wider effort by Trump to save his 2016 presidential campaign by paying to hide lascivious details about his personal life from voters, and then hide those hush money payments with accounting fraud, prosecutors have alleged. Cohen told the jury that Trump told him that if news of a sexual encounter with Daniels got out, it would spell “disaster” for his White House bid. “This is a disaster, a total disaster,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Women will hate me. Guys may think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”

Update (24/5/25)

A Verdict in Trump’s Trial Could Come at the End of Next Week (Week of Mon., May 27)

What Would Happen If He’s Convicted?

Legal experts the Sun spoke to said a typical defendant convicted of the charges at hand would be very unlikely to face prison, but none of them would speculate about what this would mean for President Trump.

https://www.nysun.com/article/a-verd...0%202024-05-25

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)

Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Marchan

Live Trial Updates – May have Jury Verdict & Judge Marchan's Judgment/Sentencing: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04...d396a4debfd6ce

This is the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Witnesses for Prosecution

Witness: Mr. David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher.

Testified that he suppressed Trump stories.At a 2015 meeting at the Trump Tower, he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by buying up scandalous stories about the real estate mogul and suppressing them.

Witness: Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) - American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper.

Stormy Daniels is not central to the prosecution’s case, but her encounter with Trump led to a hush-money payment that turned into 34 felony charges against a former president. She held her own with Trump the Trump lawyer and continue to assert she was telling the truth, despite minor factual variations from prior statements. She said that she didn’t want money for her account of having had sex with Trump and that she wanted to “get the story out.” But she did strike a deal, accepting money to stay silent.

Trump Motion (24/5/9): request for a mistrial based on the argument that Daniels' changed her story about the alleged encounter - dismissed

Trump Motion (24/5/9): seeking to modify an existing gag order so the former president could talk publicly about Daniels - dismissed.

Witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney

Cohen testified that he worked to bury negative stories on behalf of Trump and connected his former boss to a payoff made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, allegedly in exchange for her silence about an affair. It was part of a wider effort by Trump to save his 2016 presidential campaign by paying to hide lascivious details about his personal life from voters, and then hide those hush money payments with accounting fraud, prosecutors have alleged. Cohen told the jury that Trump told him that if news of a sexual encounter with Daniels got out, it would spell “disaster” for his White House bid. “This is a disaster, a total disaster,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Women will hate me. Guys may think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”

What Would Happen If He’s Convicted?

Legal experts the Sun spoke to said a typical defendant convicted of the charges at hand would be very unlikely to face prison, but none of them would speculate about what this would mean for President Trump.

https://www.nysun.com/article/a-verd...0%202024-05-25

Update (24/5/28)

Trial Summary

Here are five things we learned during the trial:

1. The head of the National Enquirer described a partnership with Trump aimed at boosting his presidential bid
2. Hope Hicks said Trump was worried about the Stormy Daniels story coming out before the 2016 election.
3. Stormy Daniels described being pressured into sex with Trump
4. A handwritten note described Michael Cohen being reimbursed $130,000
5. Michael Cohen admitted he stole from the Trump Organization

Closing Arguments: Today, Tues., May 28

Jury Verdict: Perhaps this week.

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)

Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Marchan

Live Trial Updates – May have Jury Verdict & Judge Marchan's Judgment: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04...d396a4debfd6ce

This is the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Witnesses for Prosecution

Witness: Mr. David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher.

Testified that he suppressed Trump stories.At a 2015 meeting at the Trump Tower, he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by buying up scandalous stories about the real estate mogul and suppressing them.

Witness: Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) - American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper.

Stormy Daniels is not central to the prosecution’s case, but her encounter with Trump led to a hush-money payment that turned into 34 felony charges against a former president. She held her own with Trump the Trump lawyer and continue to assert she was telling the truth, despite minor factual variations from prior statements. She said that she didn’t want money for her account of having had sex with Trump and that she wanted to “get the story out.” But she did strike a deal, accepting money to stay silent.

Trump Motion (24/5/9): request for a mistrial based on the argument that Daniels' changed her story about the alleged encounter - dismissed

Trump Motion (24/5/9): seeking to modify an existing gag order so the former president could talk publicly about Daniels - dismissed.

Witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney

Cohen testified that he worked to bury negative stories on behalf of Trump and connected his former boss to a payoff made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, allegedly in exchange for her silence about an affair. It was part of a wider effort by Trump to save his 2016 presidential campaign by paying to hide lascivious details about his personal life from voters, and then hide those hush money payments with accounting fraud, prosecutors have alleged. Cohen told the jury that Trump told him that if news of a sexual encounter with Daniels got out, it would spell “disaster” for his White House bid. “This is a disaster, a total disaster,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Women will hate me. Guys may think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”

Update (24/5/28)

Trial Summary

Here are five things we learned during the trial:

1. The head of the National Enquirer described a partnership with Trump aimed at boosting his presidential bid

1. Hope Hicks said Trump was worried about the Stormy Daniels story coming out before the 2016 election.
2. Stormy Daniels described being pressured into sex with Trump
3. A handwritten note described Michael Cohen being reimbursed $130,000
4. Michael Cohen admitted he stole from the Trump Organization

Closing Argument of Prosecutor: Donald Trump engaged in “a conspiracy and a cover-up”.

Closing Argument of Defense: The star witness, lawyer Michael Cohen, is the “greatest liar of all time”; the jury should render an across-the-board acquittal.

Jury Deliberations: Start tomorrow (Wed., May 29); a verdict could possibly be rendered this week.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-tri...ternoon%20Wire

What Would Happen If He’s Convicted?

Legal experts the Sun spoke to said a typical defendant convicted of the charges at hand would be very unlikely to face prison, but none of them would speculate about what this would mean for President Trump.

https://www.nysun.com/article/a-verd...0%202024-05-25

Bob A

[Bob Armstrong]

Legal Problems - Criminal Case # 3 (Of 4) – Falsifying Corp. Docs # 1 (Hush Money)

Prosecutor: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, under New York Attorney General, Letitia James. Senior Counsel to the DA is Matthew Colangelo, with Ms. Susan Hoffinger.

Manhattan Criminal Court Charge: Falsifying corporate documents # 1

34 counts of falsification of New York business records in an attempt to cover up hush-money payments to Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper. Stephanie claims she had an extramarital affair with Trump, which he vehemently denies.
Mr. Bragg further accuses Mr. Trump of trying to hide “damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election". Public disclosure of this could have derailed Trump's stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election.

Note: Mr. Bragg seeks a "felony" conviction for what would normally be a "misdemeanor". He argues that the intent to commit or conceal another crime (By making the illegal hush money payment), including breaking “state and federal election laws,” raises the charge to a felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, under New York law.

Interim Motions & Decisions (prior to trial): See Post # 231 (24/4/12)

Start of Trial (Mon. 24/4/15) - Trial Judge Juan Manuel Marchan

Live Trial Updates – May have Jury Verdict & Judge Marchan's Judgment: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04...d396a4debfd6ce

This is the first criminal prosecution of a former American president. It may be the only one of the 4 current criminal cases against Trump where the trial gets started in 2024.

Trial Opening Statement - Prosecutor

“This is a case about a criminal conspiracy,” Mr. Colangelo told the jury. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”

Mr. Colangelo then began to unfold, step by step, how Mr. Trump and Mr. David Pecker, [National Enquirer former CEO, then good friend of Trump] using the Enquirer, conceived a scheme “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information” about Mr. Trump with the help of his former personal lawyer [and now current nemesis], Michael Cohen. The prosecutor called him Mr. Trump’s “former fixer.”

The three men met in August 2015 at Trump Tower and cooked up a three-point plan to help Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, the prosecution alleged. The Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” Mr. Colangelo argued.

Witnesses for Prosecution

Witness: Mr. David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher.

Testified that he suppressed Trump stories.At a 2015 meeting at the Trump Tower, he agreed to be the “eyes and ears” of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by buying up scandalous stories about the real estate mogul and suppressing them.

Witness: Stephanie Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels) - American pornographic film actress, director and former stripper.

Stormy Daniels is not central to the prosecution’s case, but her encounter with Trump led to a hush-money payment that turned into 34 felony charges against a former president. She held her own with Trump the Trump lawyer and continue to assert she was telling the truth, despite minor factual variations from prior statements. She said that she didn’t want money for her account of having had sex with Trump and that she wanted to “get the story out.” But she did strike a deal, accepting money to stay silent.

Trump Motion (24/5/9): request for a mistrial based on the argument that Daniels' changed her story about the alleged encounter - dismissed

Trump Motion (24/5/9): seeking to modify an existing gag order so the former president could talk publicly about Daniels - dismissed.

Witness: Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney

Cohen testified that he worked to bury negative stories on behalf of Trump and connected his former boss to a payoff made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, allegedly in exchange for her silence about an affair. It was part of a wider effort by Trump to save his 2016 presidential campaign by paying to hide lascivious details about his personal life from voters, and then hide those hush money payments with accounting fraud, prosecutors have alleged. Cohen told the jury that Trump told him that if news of a sexual encounter with Daniels got out, it would spell “disaster” for his White House bid. “This is a disaster, a total disaster,” Trump said, according to Cohen. “Women will hate me. Guys may think it’s cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign.”

Trial Summary

Here are five things we learned during the trial:

1. The head of the National Enquirer described a partnership with Trump aimed at boosting his presidential bid

1. Hope Hicks said Trump was worried about the Stormy Daniels story coming out before the 2016 election.
2. Stormy Daniels described being pressured into sex with Trump
3. A handwritten note described Michael Cohen being reimbursed $130,000
4. Michael Cohen admitted he stole from the Trump Organization

Closing Argument of Prosecutor: Donald Trump engaged in “a conspiracy and a cover-up”.

Closing Argument of Defense: The star witness, lawyer Michael Cohen, is the “greatest liar of all time”; the jury should render an across-the-board acquittal.

Update: 24/5/30

Jury Verdict: Guilty

Guilty: Trump becomes first former U.S. president convicted of felony crimes

Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#in...nJpqVfxWmJvJWQ

What Would Happen If He’s Convicted?

Legal experts the Sun spoke to said a typical defendant convicted of the charges at hand would be very unlikely to face prison, but none of them would speculate about what this would mean for President Trump.

https://www.nysun.com/article/a-verd...0%202024-05-25

Bob A

[Peter McKillop]

"There is a simple, foolproof way to predict when Trump will describe something or someone as rigged or corrupt: when he doesn’t get what he wants. Elections he loses are fraudulent, legal decisions that go against him are rigged, and anyone who opposes him is corrupt. In every single instance, Trump is decrying not a corrupt individual or rigged process, but a person or process that is not corrupt or rigged enough to give him the results he seeks."

- Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, May 31, 2024

[Dilip Panjwani]

"There is a simple, foolproof way to predict when Trump will describe something or someone as rigged or corrupt: when he doesn’t get what he wants. Elections he loses are fraudulent, legal decisions that go against him are rigged, and anyone who opposes him is corrupt. In every single instance, Trump is decrying not a corrupt individual or rigged process, but a person or process that is not corrupt or rigged enough to give him the results he seeks."

- Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, May 31, 2024

Peter,

No half-sensible person would want to listen to the person described above (Trump); and no half-responsible media would want to report on such a person either!
Why then do more than half of the American voters want him to become the President of the USA once again, and why do all the Media help him get there by keeping him in the headlines all the time?
Is it because human nature is basically selfish, and hence his simple 'America first' slogan resonates strongly with the masses?

And while we are talking about Donny-boy, the recent civil and criminal cases prosecutors in New York simply used existing law to prosecute him, and the criminal case jurors simply did what they were supposed to do, i.e. uphold the law! So why are even the 'independents' in America so angry at what happened?
Is it because the laws involved simply seemed stupid, and the ruling politicians wasted a lot of time searching them out and enforcing these stupid laws, only because Donny was their political opponent? It seems human nature basically respects only the Natural Law!!!

Trump Gets A 6-Point Bump In Approval Ratings After Guilty Verdict: Poll (msn.com)

[Pargat Perrer]

The potential for Trump-driven violence in America has now risen to its highest level ever:

Trump verdict unleashes perilous new intensity in American politics (msn.com)

[Peter McKillop]

.... No half-sensible person would want to listen to the person described above (Trump); and no half-responsible media would want to report on such a person either!
Why then do more than half of the American voters want him to become the President of the USA once again, and why do all the Media help him get there by keeping him in the headlines all the time?
Is it because human nature is basically selfish, and hence his simple 'America first' slogan resonates strongly with the masses?
....

I don't understand it either, Pargat, but, as has been pointed out by others, I think Trump benefits from (tens of?) millions of American voters with white nationalist/supremacist viewpoints. The U.S. (and Canada to a lesser extent?) seems to be sitting on a powder keg of white assholes.