Yesterday, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) had a much covered interaction with CNN’s Manu Raju who asked him about Trump’s criminal trial and whether he was guilty of the underlying criminal conduct. Romney responded “I think everybody has made their own assessment of President Trump’s character, and so far as I know you don’t pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you.” I have previously defended Romney in his votes on impeachment despite our disagreement on the constitutional standard. I also understand that he was making a more general comment on character. However, his response is precisely what Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is seeking from the jury: a verdict on Trump as a person rather than the underlying criminal allegations.
Trump is currently facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree regarding payments made to Daniels during the 2016 presidential election. As I discuss today in the New York Post, many of us (including liberal legal experts) still question whether there is any crime alleged by Bragg. Raju reasonably asked Romney for his own view.
Romney is an interesting person to ask. He is not only a critic of the President from within his own party but he is a former businessman who has had to deal with complex reporting and business obligations.
Romney’s response must be encouraging for Bragg. Rather than address the ambiguous criminal allegation, Romney suggested that Trump was guilty as charged in having a tryst with a former porn star.
The defense is not contesting the payment and the fact of the affair is not central to the allegations. The question is whether the payments were unlawfully denoted as legal expenses with the intent to somehow steal the 2016 election.
It is not a crime to use a NDA or other means to quash an embarrassing story. Bill Clinton had a host of lawyers quashing allegations of affairs and sexual assaults throughout his presidency. He ran into trouble when he committed perjury in the effort to hide what Hillary Clinton called one of his “bimbo eruptions.”
Moreover, denoting this as a legal expense, on the advice of counsel, is not necessarily wrong. It is not clear how it should have been to be denoted. A “nuisance payment”? The campaign of Hillary Clinton and its general counsel Marc Elias hid the funding of the Steele dossier as a legal expense and was fined by the government for doing so. They litigated the question and insisted that that is precisely what it was.
Romney is precisely what Bragg is looking for in these jurors. Smart and savvy, he still viewed the question of the trial as whether Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels. If so, it was not a legal expense. Yet, quashing the story and avoiding any litigation was a legal matter with the eventual crafting of the NDA.
There are a lot of motivations for NDAs of this kind. Trump was married. He was the host of a hit television show (with a clause on termination for scandalous conduct). And, yes, he was also seeking to be president. He wanted these stories killed and friends like David Pecker were helping in that effort. What those facts say about the former president’s “character” will remain a matter of public debate and, as Romney said, most long ago reached their own conclusions. Yet, it is the crime not the character of Trump that is at issue in Manhattan.
Alvin Bragg would like the trial to remain a verdict on character, which is why he started the trial discussing not the Daniels matter but an uncharged affair and settlement with a former Playboy bunny. It is why he fought hard (and succeeded) in being able to question Trump about past cases involving an alleged assault and fraudulent conduct. As legal experts continue this week to debate if there is even a crime alleged in the indictment, Bragg is making a case that Trump’s lack of character is beyond a reasonable doubt.
To be fair, Romney was not giving a full interview on the case in his statement to CNN and may well have some reservations about the Bragg indictment. However, Bragg is likely hoping that “everybody has made their own assessment of President Trump,” including twelve jurors currently sitting in the Manhattan courtroom.
“To be fair, Romney was not giving a full interview on the case in his statement ”
Turley shows his essential vacillating weakness in this (the 2nd in just this column) gratuitous deference to a duplicitous, spineless, RINO, who is arguably a traitor to the ideals that made his country great, and to its Constitution. NTM that Romney is a shameless, cynical, TDS exploiter and deserves to be condemned on that basis, as well.
How would Mitt Romney answer this question from a REAL journalist – “Was your son involved with Hunter Biden in Ukraine or anywhere else? If so, how much money did he make off of this “partnership” and what services were sold?”
“Alvin Bragg would like the trial to remain a verdict on character . . .” (JT)
So now we have a new low, even for the Left: Use the law as a club for their morality police.
Does the Left want all Americans under the boot of morality police? Of course not. That is what theocracies do (like Iran). Leftists are more modern. They have a desire/end, for the moment — “Get Trump.” The use of morality police is a means (any means necessary) to that end.
Next week or next year, when a Leftist ox is gored, the Left will scream bloody murder: “How dare you act like morality police? The Right is religious fascism.”
Feel dizzy yet? You should. Chaos and confusion, driven by whimsical behavior, is part of the plan.
My concern here is that the judge has allowed prejudicial information to enter the courtroom and be heard by the jurors which is not germane to the charges. This seems to be a strong case for appeal, and malicious prosecution at best. This would not have been allowed in any other courtroom.
I agree more with you than you do with yourself. Bravo and well played.
JLM
http://www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Anonymous said: “This seems to be a strong case for appeal,”
I think you are getting lost in the legal details and missing the entire point of this trial. Which is to prevent Trump from campaigning by tying him up on court every day, and, if possible, jailing him. This is a classic case of the process being the punishment. If the intent of the crooked judge (I honestly do not think that is too strong a statement at this point) is realized and Trump’s inability to campaign costs him the election, it won’t really matter very much if he wins on appeal somewhere down the road. Fortunately, there is a strong possibility that this bizarre miscarriage of justice (accurate descriptionj, imo, no matter what the outcome) will enhance his fundraising, and make him a sympathetic character to a wide array of voters, to the point that it will (at minimum) compensate for his absence from the campaign trail – it could even be a net benefit. Making Trump into a widely-perceived sympathetic character is no easy feat, if the TDS lawfare folks manage to accomplish that, they should all just go off themselves.
Pity the trolls. If they are paid at all, even the most prominent make less than an entry-level hire at Target. The kickbacks from the Ukraine billions can only be spread so far. Just on the off chance that they are actually paid, they may actually get bonuses for “replies” and engagement, a nickle or two. So it is best not to directly reply to them. Ignore them. They have little ambition and are satisfied with the dregs of the DNC.
Stop feeding the troll
Romney continues to whine about this that and the other thing because he lost the presidential election. To barry o, such an awful first term president! His pain is made worse by the fact that DJTrump won that same election. His statements about President Trump are those of a loser who resents a winner.
I’m not sure Mittens knows what he is. He managed an Olympics and then was elected Governor of Massachusetts for 1 term. He had the near perfect setting and place to defeat Obama and then went away into the night at the most critical time of the campaign of 2012. Obama was at a real low and Romney defaulted the election. He abdicated the debates. So what is he? A rumbling, stumbling peacock who lets his hate for the president, who accomplished what he could not, color all his comments and judgments. He is yesterday’s news and frankly no one listens to him any more. Time for him to fade away.
I guess Mr. Romney never understand that any time a Republican gets close to a critical office the democrats conjure up an “affair” or a “rape”. Ask Justice Thomas and Kavanaugh , senate candidate Moore in Alabama, and now Trump twice. Did he ever consider, in his plastic and pristine world that maybe this was all a put up job.
Romney’s self righteousness is tiresome and tedious. Time to pack it in and play with his grandchildren and leave our country alone. The country was not improved by his career.
The fairest and most truthful analysis of Romney one could ask for. Thank you.
Agree wholeheartedly.
GEB said: “was elected Governor of Massachusetts for 1 term.”
You neglected to mention that he did this as a carpetbagger.
As a southerner by birth I do know about carpetbaggers but Romney would be an insult to carpetbaggers. At least the south knew what the carpetbaggers were there for. Did Romney?
GEB said: “At least the south knew what the carpetbaggers were there for. Did Romney?”
He had to have known that he was somewhere he really didn’t belong, taking opportunistic advantage of an unfortunate situation.
Romney acts, talks, and votes, with Democrats. Not a soul finds this unusual
Perhaps even more basic is that a criminal prosecution motivated by a political agenda is brought in bad faith and that’s a violation of due process of law.
This case appears to involve three steps:
1. The “legal expenses” entry in the ledger must be proven to be intentionally false:
2. It must be shown that the entry was intended to conceal a conspiracy to promote or prevent the election of a person through “unlawful means;” and
3. There must be proof of some “unlawful means.”
2 is what the prosecutor has said is the underlying crime the concealment of which converts the misdemeanour in 1 which is time-barred into a felony which is not. 2 is also a misdemeanour under NY law which would be time-barred too, so it’s unclear if it can serve as the underlying crime that avoids the time bar that would ordinarily apply to 1 by converting that misdemeanour into a felony. It is also odd that a misdemeanour in 2 could convert a misdemeanour in 1 into a felony.
But even if you get past all that, there is still the need to prove 3. Neither catch and kill arrangements nor NDAs are “unlawful means.” So that may lead back to an allegation of a Federal campaign violation. So far, the prosecution has not even mentioned that. Cohen’s plea is not admissible, so this would have to be proved. The former head of the FEC has argued that there was no campaign violation in these payments. No Federal authority charged a campaign violation. It is unclear whether a local DA has the authority to do so.
This is a rat’s nest of technical legal issues. The judge’s instructions to the jury on all these matters could be important. Assuming of course that the law has anything to do with the verdict.
Daniel,
Thank you for that analysis.
Very interesting.
Question Daniel
State election law is referenced by the magpie media. I have seen analysis, the NY election law. The statute ONLY references State and local elections. The question is not if that is true. ONLY if the judge will also ignore the plain language of Statute and allow the case to proceed.
Yes, you are right. The alleged underlying crime in 2 is a NY statute that likely only applies to state and local elections. So this is another hurdle that the prosecution must overcome. Thanks for adding this.
May I quibble just a bit. The only legal issue here is “falsification of business records in the first degree.” This pertains to the identification or description appended to 11 checks, 11 sinvoices (haha, I crack myself up — get it “sinvoices”), and 12 general ledger entries. Those are the business records alleged to be falsified.
It is alleged that the description appended to those 34 documents — “legal expenses” — is false and that the defendant knew and intended it to be false in furtherance of another crime.
Falsification of business records in the second degree is, in fact, a misdemeanor with a 2 year statute of limitations.
Falsification of business records becomes “first degree” and a Class E Felony if it is done with the intent to commit a crime or to aid in concealing a crime. The statute of limitations for this offense is 5 years.
The follow on crime that is alleged is Federal election financial irregularities (which was passed on by the Federal Election Commission). Under New York law, this second crime does not have to be proven, thus, it is not charged in DA Bragg’s allegations.
The DA argues that he is not tolled by the statute of limitations as Trump was out of the state and the intrusion of COVID.
This is the first time in the history of the State of New York that a county district attorney has ever used the violation of a Federal statute to justify a state offense. It is a wildly novel theory and application of the law.
There is nothing illegal about paying off hookers, buying the stories of misstresses, or sending lawyers to “fix” things. Those are simply not crimes. It is not illegal to polish the apple when running for elected office. If so, Biden’s lies about graduating at the top of his law school class would be an issue. No?
This whole case is soley about the description on 11 checks, 11 sinvoices, and 12 general ledger entries — words that are unlikely to have been affixed to those documents by this Mr. Trump character.
This case was passed on by the US DOJ, the US Attorney for S New York, the Federal Election Commission, and the prior District Attorney.
This is malicious prosecution intended to muddy the leading Republican candidate up a bit, has been delayed until his time to campaign was impinged, and to keep the Republican candidate from campaigning. It is a political trial.
It is a disgrace to the US justice system.
I was reminded today of the only moment of clarity that our friend Dennis McInlyre has ever had on this blog.
“Democrats are for VIOLENCE if the cause is right”
You can substitute any of these words for violence:
LYING
CHEATING
STEALING
INTIMIDATING
SILENCING
DOXING
Why doesn’t Trump just invoke the Fifth Dimension?
One of my favorite groups growing up.
Christ taught how to deal with these kinds of situations, will Trump heed the teachers words? Tell the truth, admit the wrong, and ask to be forgiven. I have my doubts.
So Bobby Browneye aka Lawn Boy, finally gets around to why he is here.
Do not feed the troll.
Hatred of the innocent is the fruit of the Jews, you and your kind are these reason why Christ killer.
Who exactly are the innocent, you ignorant fvck?
Those 15,000 dead Palestinian kids schmuck. God forbid you had a brain……. or a heart, Christ killer.
Lmao lets see the bodies.
Gullible fvck
You gotta open your eyes to see, kyke. CAECA— means blind in latin. How can a blind man see, schmuck?
Robert Browning means dumb fvck in English.
You are going to get your Moshiach all the way up to your tonsils, Christ killer. and boy are you going to love your Big Mo, he is girthy.
I’m not Jewish, Christ killer.
I have a direct connection to God through Jesus.
You have nothing.
No sale kyke. Why don’t you try selling that line of crap over in Israel where you belong?
Douche
What are you selling kyke? Are you dreaming of growing a pair of balls?
Jews don’t quote Matthew, ya stupid skinhead. What an ignorant douche.
Do you really prefer taking it in the ass over sucking cock?
You need to be Moshiached like there is no tomorrow. Do you know that schmuck?
Bobby Browneye is none other than Elvis Bug, aka Lawn Boy.
Ignore him
15000 dead palestinian kids is 15000 less adult terrorists.
There is none innocent. No, not one.
———isaiah
You hate the innocent Christ killer. We are in agreement on the subject……and hatred of the innocent is the definition of evil. Don’t hid we see you.
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you”
When the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of a believer, there is no room for hate.
YOU are a Christ killer, and you kill him a little more every day with your despicable hate.
…we will see what God has to say. Won’t we, Christ killer?
I just quoted what God had to say, Christ killer.
Not quit kyke, it is what a Jew assumes God to say. Big difference schmuck. You are not connected to God not since you killed Christ.
Christ taught how to deal with these kinds of situations, will Biden heed the teachers words? Tell the truth, admit the wrong, and ask to be forgiven. I have my doubts.
Polly wanna a cracker retard?
To be fair, many Presidents, Senators and political insiders have had affairs they covered up. Sometimes with hush money, sometimes by making it impossible for them to tell tales.
Wealthy politicians have enough money so that when false accusations arise they can afford a nuisance payment and NDA to make it go away.
Bad bookkeeping for that payment – by the accountant – is not a major crime.
Mitt Romney (also known as Carlos Danger) is a piece of crap, and I am sorry that I had to vote for him, because Obama sucked so bad. He is not 1/100 the man, or the leader, that Trump is, and he is a total hypocrite. He voted to impeach Trump over a perfectly legitimate phone call regarding the possibly illegal activity of the Bidens in Ukraine. YET, not one peep from Mittens about the Hunter Biden laptop stuff. Yep, a hypocrite, and like Brutus – a supposedly honourable man, who was anything but.
Technically, Romney, by posting on Twitter as Carlos Danger, has done the same thing as Trump. I wonder if he realizes that?
Mitt Romney’s alias is Pierre Delecto. Anthony Weiner is the one who used the alias Carlos Danger.
Joe Biden has allegedly used many fake email names over the years, including Robin Ware, Robert L. Peters, JRB Ware. He’s also known as Celtic and “The Big Guy” by his business associates.
You are right! I am sorry! Thank you for catching that!
To use Clarence Thomas”s phrase, it is a “high-tech lynching.”
This is a frivolous, ridiculous misuse of our legal system. None of these charges would have been filed unless it were Donald Trump. Period. How many years ago did this happen? Nine? Where are the statutes of limitation?
This is corruption of our legal system on full display. Election interference.
E.M.
“This is corruption of our legal system on full display. Election interference.”
That right there.
Well said.
open traitors to America are among us.
the USA is now a fascist state where the Bidens, Menendez, etc are criminals and walk free with a 100% corrupt DOJ, IRS, FBI, etc protect the choosen….and Republicans are jailed at will People around Trump, Jan 6th, Trump, etc
Illegals are welcomed with billions in taxpayer money for BREAKING THE LAW! Drugs are are pushed while suicides and drug deaths are 200,000/yr!
Time to Defund Democrats
End all Federal aid to cities, states, colleges and non-profits…let democrats fund their failures. Today they are reward with money FOR failure
Illegals are the new slaves for Democrat Plantation!
Hey Alvin, will you be going after Hillary (and Elias) next? No, didn’t think so.