This morning, many of us are emerging from the late coverage last night after the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felonies. I was in the courtroom for the verdict, which hit like a thunderclap (particularly after a strange snafu with the judge). The question that everyone is asking: what happens next?
The scene in the court was a madhouse. Judge Juan Merchan told the court that the jury had not reached a verdict and would be dismissed for the day. Many reporters in the overflow courtroom were leaving when Merchan suddenly said that there was a verdict. People came running back into the courtroom. That was followed by 34 guilty verdicts.
I am obviously saddened by the verdict, but not surprised. Until the very end, I was hopeful that there would be a hung jury, a result that could restore some integrity to the New York criminal justice system. However, I previously noted that the jury instructions made conviction much more likely. I referred to the deliberations as a legal “canned hunt” due to instructions that made conviction a near certainty.
You could feel the weight of history in the courtroom, though we still have to see what history was made. For some, it was the conviction of the first president of a felony. For others, it was the key moment where the weaponization of the criminal system became clear and inescapable. It was both, obviously. Yet, the trial fulfilled narratives on both sides.
I ran outside to join the coverage. (One humorous moment was an officer screaming at reporters piling out of the courtroom to “walk not run.” It did not work.) It looked like the final judgment with everyone panicking to find an exit.
The scene outside the courtroom was surreal. The Trump supporters were outraged. The anti-Trump protesters were ecstatic, dancing and celebrating in the street.
While I have written a book about what I have called “the age of rage,” I am always shocked by such scenes. There is a dehumanizing element of these moments as people celebrate not just the first conviction of a president but a person. Rage is addictive and contagious. That was vividly evident outside the courtroom.
So what happens next?
Obviously, appeals will be taken. As I said last night, we must keep the faith. Indeed, moments like this require us to take a leap of faith in a nation that remains committed to the rule of law. Manhattan is neither the entirety of the country nor the legal system. I believe that these convictions will be overturned, but it will take time. Judge Merchan committed, in my view, layers of reversible error. Eventually, this case may reach the United States Supreme Court.
It has been suggested that an appeal could be taken directly to the Supreme Court. I find that doubtful after the Supreme Court rejected an expedited process for Special Counsel Jack Smith in his federal prosecutions. It will work first through the New York appellate system.
As for the criminal process, Trump will have to meet with a probation officer for an interview. That officer will make recommendations to the court.
There is a possibility of a jail sentence for felonies that come with up to four years for each offense. Any jail sentences would almost certainly run concurrently. However, any jail sentence would be ridiculous in Manhattan for an elderly first-offender in a non-violent offense.
Consistent with his past commentary, MSNBC legal analyst and former Mueller aide Andrew Weissmann predicted that Merchan will give Trump jail time. He is not alone as legal analysts seemed to get caught up in a thrill-kill conviction.
It is much more likely that Merchan will impose a sentence without a jail sentence, though with fines. The most appropriate, in my view, would be a conditional discharge that requires Trump not to commit a new crime or face potential imprisonment.
Merchan could also tailor a sentence to require home confinement or even weekend jailing. Those options would raise serious conflicts with his campaigning and obviously, if elected, serving as president. Even the probation process will be awkward since a convicted defendant ordinarily has to get approval for any travel outside of the state from his probation officer.
Sentences can also include community service, counseling and other requirements.
After his ruling in this trial, it is impossible to rule anything out. However, any jail sentence would add even more outrage to an abuse of the criminal law system.
I ignore the nony mice. Get a blog name.
You ignore them by talking to them?
The right of appeal, while common, is not universal in the USA. Here is an article by a law professor about this:
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=faculty_publications
It should be universal. Trial courts are notorious for making errors that should be reviewed and corrected on appeal. Without that the promise of due process rings hollow.
is that relevant to this case ?
Further – do you really think the argument that there is no right to appeal is one that almost anyone wants to hear ?
Benson,
The link take us to a piece bemoaning the fact SCOTUS takes a tiny fraction of cases, filed with it.
The court makes that determination and refuses those that have no merit, for the lands highest court to resolve. Cases that present no question of Constitutional interest, nor glaring abuse by the government.
While there is talk of taking the Trump trial abomination to SCOTUS, SCOTUS has not obligation to take the case.
Watch this clip and tell me this guy is not suffering from dementia:
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1796632246763372569
Kansas Elder, no sign of dementia. The ‘sly grin’ was enough of an answer for him.
The halting movement and the craziness of the grin, together with inability to formulate any verbal response (without reading notes) seemed pretty telling to me.
@old man “together with inability to formulate any verbal response (without reading notes) seemed pretty telling to me.”
Lately Biden has had trouble even with notes and teleprompters and, of course, slways the truth.
The cabal that put this evil cretin in the WH have much to answer for. I just hope he and his incompetent DEI staff don’t tumble us into WWIII before he is evicted and prosecuted.
I hope the same, but they’re incompetent enough that they just might thrust us all into nuclear annihilation.
Oldman–
That’s my concern. Everything they do is like that imbecilic pier they put together in Gaza that fell apart in days. I said here a couple weeks or more ago that it would fail because–Biden. But I didn’t think it would turn to crap this fast. Meanwhile ships run aground or collide or burn up at the pier while our military is focused on pronouns and DEI, and racial equity. Recruitment has collapsed because white guys know better than to join a military that is hostile to them and that acts like a freak show at times.
Meanwhile the US and other Western countries are approving use of long range missiles that can strike deep into Russia. How do they expect Russia to respond? Putin said those complex weapons can’t operate with Ukranians who are given brief training. They will be launched by Americans, Germans and Brits and that is an act of war.
Many people could see WWI coming, Churchill for one, and many others, and they tried to avert it. It’s not hard to see the risks of WWIII piling up now and many like you can see those risks. But the ‘leadership’ in the US seems oblivious. I will rest easier if Trump gets in provided it isn’t too late.
As an aside I am sure you have already read The Guns of August by Tuchman but if you haven’t got to it yet–though you likely have–look at Churchill’s The World Crisis about WWI. Both books give grounds for pessimism about our current situation.
It is more like a replay of the late 1930s than the years before 1914 — institutions (League, ICJ/UN) collapsing, nations arming (EU, US, China, Russia), proxy war in Europe (Spain/Ukraine), alliance systems which have become offensive, belief that war is easy to win, despite the evidence to the contrary, trust in new weapons . . . . and morons in elite positions.
Unfortunately, it does seem that our glorious leaders are playing Risk with nuclear weapons, probably because they they have forgotten how to play Diplomacy and lack the brains to play chess or Go.
https://www.jeffsachs.org/interviewsandmedia/lhklf2aek7dtlkd9waelcy3xp8pd8a
We are also seeing a serious weakness within the US military. Slowly since WWII the US has shifted to increasingly expensive technology to amplify military power and reduce casualties – particularly US casualties.
We have reached an extreme with this. I have seen simulations of an accidental conflict getting triggered int he south China sea with a US Carrier Battle Group.
For approximatly 72hrs the US CBG unleashes the wrath of God on the Chinese. the conflict is unbeleivably loppsided and US casualities are few and Chinese ships are sunk and aircraft destroyed, as the CBG very successfully fights off all attacks and delivers devastating blows.
And then all the sophisticated weapons run out and without hours the entire Carrier Battle Group is sunk.
Our sophisticated weaponry is virtually unequaled . But it is complex, expensive difficult to resupply and impossible to produce at the rates necessary for any sustained conflict.
If in the scenario above Resupply of the CBG were possible – that would wreak more havoc on the Chinese – but the outcome would still be inevitable. We can not produce the high tech weapons necessary to sustain a protracted conflict.
That is not important if we are trying to maintain control of the oceans or trade. If the naval forces of the entire rest of the world opposed the US in the pacific or atlantic – we would prevail.
But the most likely naval conflict of the next 2 decades is off the cost of china., Se can sink the entire Chinese navy and our forces will still remain vulnerable to massed attacks by less capable but more rapidly replaceable enemy forces.
In Ukraine we are currently seeing a version of the same on land. Russia has to a large extent been reverting back to WWII weapons, they are in massive supply, cheap easy to mass produce, but much less capable.
The Ukrainians are using much less but far more capable weaponry to inflict significantly higher casualties.
But Russia ultimately wins a war of attrition.
Anon: “It is more like a replay of the late 1930s than the years before 1914.”
+++
Certainly there are elements of both Eras. Previously here I have remarked that the dissolution of norms in this country was reminiscent of Weimar Germany in the earlier Thirties and we all know how that evolved.
It is different now but the Democrats are increasingly revealing characteristics of the Nazi party with their embrace of censorship, totalitarianism, anti-semitism, and their own Brownshirts [Occupy, Antifa, BLM] financed rather mysteriously from the Left. Even swastikas are turning up again.
I never thought I would see it here.
The Guns of August is excellent, and it is an excellent history of how we stumbled into the bloodiest war in human history by a long sequence of bad decisions by those on both sides.
WWI never needed to happen.
Mostly I think that WWIII is unlikely – even with the idiocy of the current regime.
But it is more likely that this will escalate into WWIII out of arrogance, stupidity, incompetence and complete misunderstanding than through intention.
John: “But it is more likely that this will escalate into WWIII out of arrogance, stupidity, incompetence and complete misunderstanding than through intention.”
+++
Unfortunately we seem to have those in abundance.
We do not prosecute the cognitively impaired.
We are also not supposed to prosecute people over political differences – but that is now out the window.
John: “We do not prosecute the cognitively impaired.”
+++
No, but letting them lead the “Free World” is apparently okay. What’s to worry about a stockpile of nuclear weapons in the hands of a doddering imbecile who can’t complete or understand a simple sentence?
What you dont see, as he stops and starts to speak, is the handler behind the geisha wall waving and telling him “no, no, come this way”
Benson is a moron. I mean that with all sincerity.
DBB – My father suffered from vascular demensia before he died – that is a fast moving form.
It is not something I would wish on anyone.
I do not think a rational person can conclude that Biden is not in significant mental decline.
But ultimately that does not matter. The alternative is that Biden is cognitively capable and actually responsible for his disastrous presidency.
If anything that is worse.
Biden benefits from the public perception that he is a kindly old man with declining cognitive ability.
We put the cognitively impaired out to pasture.
We put the deliberately lawless in jail.
“The ‘sly grin’ . . .”
Good description (even if accidental).
It means: Look what my regime got away with — by being deceitful and devious.
That was a grin of pure evil.
2024 is now the year of the outlaw and the year of the outlaw president, believe me:
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1796622851128107458
I want the t-shirt.
Move over Judge Martin T. Manton, Juan Merchan has surpassed your corruption and is only getting started. OTOH, perhaps that was Merchan’s goal, to overtake his Democrat Manhattan Judicial mentor
Lessons From the Most Corrupt Judge in U.S. History
… a sordid and shocking case of judicial corruption–the worst in our nation’s history–unspooled in a downtown courtroom in Depression-era Manhattan.
Martin T. Manton was not just any judge. From 1918 to 1939, Manton served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, based in New York City. Even more so than today, New York then was the beating heart of the country’s commercial, financial, cultural, religious, and political life. This meant that the Second Circuit decided a disproportionate share of the country’s most consequential lawsuits. And it earned Manton, the court’s senior judge beginning in 1927, the informal title of “the tenth-ranking judge in the United States,” below only the nine Justices of the Supreme Court. A Columbia law graduate and the recipient of honorary degrees from five other universities, Manton came within a whisker of being appointed to the Supreme Court himself.
…Unusually active for a judge in partisan politics, he is said to have played a key role in the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that led to Franklin Roosevelt’s first presidential nomination at the 1932 Democratic convention. On top of all this, he managed a small business empire out of his chambers, with extensive real estate holdings and interests in a variety of operating companies.
Less visibly, Manton operated a side business with a more unwholesome objective: cashing in on his status and power as a judge.
In literally dozens of cases, Manton solicited payments and “loans” (many never repaid) from litigants, or the lawyers representing them, in cases in the Second Circuit. Invariably, he would then write the decision for the court finding in favor of the party that fattened his bank account. In all, Manton raked in some $17 million (in today’s dollars) from his schemes. His prosecutor fittingly dubbed him a “merchant of justice,” who systematically abused his judicial office for private gain on a scale unmatched by any federal judge before or since.
https://time.com/6297365/lessons-corrupt-judge-us-history-essay/
Melania never came to the courthouse to support her spouse. Maybe she couldn’t bring herself to support him in a case involving an NDA about his having slept with an adult film actress right after Melania gave birth.
Are you competing in the “how low can we go” contest? You might win. Then again maybe you’re just an average Dem.
Nope, just noting that his own wife couldn’t bring herself to show up to support him. And of course, Trump denies having had sex with Daniels. Could it be that Trump is lying? Surely Melania wouldn’t care if it weren’t true, right?
Yup you’re a sleaze bag. But thanks for revealing the putrid state of your soul for all to see.
LOL. Trump’s as putrid as they come, and you reveal your own foul soul by supporting him.
That’s what beta males say after they pee their pants when coming face to face with an alpha male. I support a secure border, no new wars, and a booming economy. Trump delivered that, and will deliver it again. Biden delivered the opposite.
Trump’s as putrid as they come, and you reveal your own foul soul by supporting him.
Says the cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat who voted for Bribery Biden BECAUSE he had “inappropriate shower sex” with his teenage daughter. Who wrote in her diary that she wondered if she had become a sexual pervert, drug addict, and thief because of those “inappropriate” moments with the Big Guy.
Same Daddy who paid for his other offspring’s underage Russian whores and drugs. The very epitome of a normal Soviet Democrat father, whether cowardly Anonymous or not.
But yeah… Trump’s the bad one. Anybody ask The First Nurse if she minded The Big Guy screwing their teenage daughter in the shower?
Paying for the surviving son’s underage hookers and drugs. Raping his young intern?
But… cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrats instead are “BBBBUUUTTTTT…. MUH MELANIA!!!!!”
Trump did not want to be there.
Given that this was a farce from the start – that makes the trial kidnapping – and ACTUAL crime.
Why in gods name would Melania want to be there ?
Prior to this Trial I believed Daniels that this encounter took place.
After. I doubt it.
It is clear that Daniels was after money.
It is also clear that if the story was true should could have gotten far more money from other sources.
If this story was only worth 130K and only from Trump, then it is not likely true.
It is inarguably true that DJT is not a faithful spouse.
That is not new information.
This particular claim is not credible and not relavant.
In one breath the Dems get all high and mighty about nobody being above the law, and in the next breath they fantasize about assassinating conservatives such as Trump and Supreme Court justices. The latest is John Grisham on the view (those cackling hens) getting laughs from the liberal audience when he says he might write a sequel to The Pelican Brief about yet more Scotus justices being assassinated.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13476097/john-grisham-author-supreme-court-sequel-book-assassination.html
Jail it will be. Nothing enraged Hillary supporters more than the chants of “lock her up.” No one will remember that Trump did not prosecute her.
Trump is still leader of the pack and 100 million American outlaws are with him:
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1796658897660289470
Philip Bump: “If it is true that 1) Biden wants to use governmental power to lock up Republicans (since if he can do it to Trump, he can do it to you) and that 2) Trump is a lock to win in November (since Americans are so mad about NY), then why isn’t Biden locking up Republicans while he can?”
Jamelle Bouie: “The fundamental demand of Republicans is that Donald Trump is to be immune from any legal consequences. He is to be immune, and if the legal system does not treat him as immune, it is corrupt.”
Biden didn’t have anything to do with the NY court case, and Trump’s the one who’s corrupt.
When you start with a quote from Philip Bump you signal that you are not a serious commenter.
LOL, coming from an unserious commenter such as yourself.
Oooh that was a good one. Your riposte was just the cleverest little thing I’ve ever seen. Your IQ must be at the genius level. Wow! 😮
Philip Bump LMAO
Anonymous – Joe Biden has weaponized his apparatchiks in government to incarcerate his political opponent on trumped up, absurd charges, in order to gain an unfair advantage in the presidential election.
Democrat activists in positions of power are abusing that authority to help Biden’s campaign and strike out at Trump. There is record of Biden’s administration coordinating with social media and the intelligence community to bury injurious stories, as well.
There should be no legal consequences for signing a legal NDA.
No NDA has ever been considered a campaign contribution to the candidates own campaign.
Under this logic, Joe Biden should go to prison for each and every expense he incurred burying the Hunter Biden Laptop story, which should have all been billed as campaign contributions to himself, and all of which were used to deprive the voters of accurate information on his criminal activity.
Yes he can and he will, for the conspiracy he perpetrated in Texas with Biden campaign officials.
If Biden is controlling our legal system as Trump and MAGA media claim, then why hasn’t he procured a pardon or dismissal of the charges against Hunter?
Getting re-elected is more important you idiot.
By the way, dum dum, he doesnt need to “control the legal system” to pardon someone.
One has nothing to ldo with the other. Get a clue.
The fundamental demand of Republicans is conformance to the rule of law.
Is there any democrat that actually expects this farce to hold up on appeal ?
The question is not IF all this lawfare will go down in flames, only how quickly.
It will not tank because Trump is immune.
It will be wiped out because it was lawless from the start.
Worse still democrats are BRAZEN about this – the openly admit that what MATTERS is that Trump will remain labeled as a convicted felon through THE ELECTION.
The goal was never to lawfully convict an actual criminal,
But to use any means necessary to win an election.
Is there some giant organized conspiracy lead By Joe Biden ?
Absolutely not. Joe Biden is not competent enough to do so.
Is there without a doubt a broad effort by Democrats in power to use “any means necescary” to defeat Trump and republicans
Without any doubt.
While there is ample evidence of collusion – right down to Colangelo the traveling salesman of the get Trump collusion,
It is irrelevant whether their is a literally coordinated effort lead by Biden.
There is a large body of democrats in power acting illegally for a common purpose – gaining and maintaining political power by abusing government power.
Trump just raised $53 million in 24 hours.
Even people who hate his personality and supported Biden are declaring for him now.
I don’t get it. The defense had every opportunity to cross Michael Cohen and to persuade 12 jurors that he was lying on the stand. Blanche & Co. just utterly failed in its basic responsibility. Don’t point fingers at Merchan, Bragg, Biden, or anyone else. That is a cop out. This was a winnable case for DJT.
YAWN
Spoken like someone who didnt listen to the jury instructions
Did you have a good nap?
Wrong. Jurors (not the judge) evaluate and weigh witness credibility. Nothing prevented them from doing so, disbelieving Cohen entirely, and acquitting DJT.
You think “weighing witness credibility” is how any mans fate should be decided, you moron? Witnesses who have been asked to testify beyond the SOL? You do at least know why there is a SOL, right?
How the law is applied has waaaaaY more to do with what the jury was deciding than a serial perjurers “credibility”
We’ve got a live one here, boys!
You do understand the standard is “beyond a reasonable doubt”, right??? Its not, well i think witness a is more believable than witness b. What the fvxk are we even dealing with in this country nowadays? There is no hope.
OK. What did the jury instructions say on this point?
No, douchebag. Thats not how it works. You made the assertion that it was the crapola cross of cohen that lost this winnable case. Enlighten us how you would have handled it, Perry Mason.
Anonymous:
This was a case that should never have been brought, but once it was filed, it was never winnable in that courtroom.
-The judge should have been randomly assigned. Instead, Judge Merchan is overseeing 3 Trump trials.
-An NDA is a legal fee
-There are no limits on a candidates contributions to his own campaign
-An NDA is not election interference
-Federal election law is the purview of the FEC, which did not find any crime
-The statute of limitations on the misdemeanor for falsifying business records on the accusation that an NDA should have been noted as a campaign contribution rather than a legal fee, was lifted and the charge raised to a felony, by claiming it was done in perpetration of a second felony. That second felony was never specified. It should be impossible to convict anyone of a crime the prosecution does not specify.
-The judge actively worked to support the prosecution, and interfered with the defendant’s right to a fair trial. Ex – disallowing election law expert Brad Smith, who would have explained there was no crime. Instead, the judge allowed perjurer Michael Cohen to instruct the jury on election law
-The judge allowed the prosecutor to state that since Michael Cohen took a plea deal on fraud charges, that this meant Trump had been found guilty of fraud, without trial
-The judge instructed the jury that they didn’t need to agree on what second crime occurred, just that one did.
-The judge was a Democrat activist, the DA ran on getting Trump, the AG ran on getting Trump, and the prosecutor has been publicly saying he was going to get Trump.
-This part of NYC is about 95% Democrat, a supermajority. Any jury pulled from such a deep blue city was going to be Democrat.
There was no winning a case that should have never been brought.
Judge Merchan is going to sentence Donald Trump to prison, so that Democrats will have his mugshot to aid in their campaign efforts. This is another way to interfere with the 2024 election, and it keeps Trump off the campaign trail. Democrats are also trying to get rid of Trump’s Secret Service detail if he is sentenced to prison, which would enable an assassination. If Trump is assassinated, they’ll say it all happened in the past, and what difference does it make.
This is Stalinesque.
I rarely comment on these discussions as most of them end up filled with emotion and incorrect analysis. However, Karen S did a fine legal summation. I commend you Karen, and you are correct in your statements (the vast majority of them). The discussion you directed to “anonymous” person.
Everyone has an opinion, even me. However, one more thing, I think it would have been both “fair” and “honest” since no party affiliation voters like me would like to keep everything even, so to speak… if Robert Hur or another special counsel had;
1) recommended charging Biden (despite what he thinks, he WAS found to be illegally in possession (and more) of materials he HAD NO REASON OR PERMISSION TO RETAIN) and that was CLEARLY described in the summation by Hur) so he should be charged, processed, tried, and then let the chips fall where they may, like Biden himself said today. Biden should have to do EXACTLY the same as Trump did.
2) Pursued the case against Biden despite Garland and Biden’s objections (unwarranted);
3) let the judicial method proceed as it just did in the case with Trump.
If Biden is innocent, then let justice prevail, after fingerprinting of Biden, photos of Biden, booking of Biden, and then the trial, where he MUST be present EVERYDAY until a verdict is levied. We need a FAIR and more importantly, EQUITABLE legal system. Right now, it’s Liberals against Conservatives and we NPA voters get attacked by all (like Skank Clinton called NPAs “deplorable”–I guess I should have read one of her many chapters on professional lying, corruption, character development, and scandal–oh well. In a fair contest, ALL things need to be equal at the start. That means, no “dirty judges” like ole “Juan-ball” who donates to one side, changes the rules and confuses juries (having been a Jury Foreman twice and have certificates to show for it) and is a well known not-so-in-the-closet democrat.
This “show” by Bragg makes ALL Americans look bad to the civilized world. Selective prosecutions and twisting felonies and misdemeanors to one’s liking. Since Biden is clearly brain-dead, I suppose I’ll vote for trump. I’d rather have someone like Trump running the show, rather than a stumbling, demented, crooked idiot like Biden. Good analysis Karen S.
Karen S embarrasses herself every time she regurgitates the slop she hears on Fox. She lacks even a basic understanding of the issues and refuses to be educated. She keeps repeating the same nonsense over and over again.
Karen is 100 times smarter than you. She doesn’t embarrass herself, she embarrasses you.
^^^^Gigi either forgot or intentionally left her name off, while she spews her vitriol like some lunatic. She who gets her “news” from Vox, Media-ite, and Rachel Maddow.
Read the room, dumb ass. Many people here watch Fox. Its like going to an NRA convention and telling everyone that 2A should be repealed. Idiot.
If that is what you believe, that rather than insults – how about facts, valid arguments, this is a legal blog – so how about the law.
Excellent,
Any ONE of your points should have resulted in this case never reaching the court, much less a jury.
Worse still – as numerous as the flaws you note are that list is FAR from exhaustive.
The supreme court has addressed Fraud repeatedly – including in other “political cases” as recently as 2023,
There is an excellent oppinion by none other than Ruth Bader Ginnsberge in 2000.
Fraud is a PROPERTY crime. There MUST be a tangible harm to an actual person or entity. Fraud statutes that do not require proof of actual tangible harm are unconstitutional.
The federal courts have also weighed in on this “pick a crime, any crime” nonsense.
When another unlawful activity is an element of a charged crime, the prosecution must commit to proving SPECIFC unlawful activities and they must prove the requisite number beyond a reasonable doubt and the jury must unanimously find that about each and every required element.
I would differ regarding Brad Smith – he should not have been allowed to testify at all – because the State of NY can not prosecute an uncharged federal crime in state court. EVERYTHING regarding federal election law claims was inadmissible.
As was everything regarding Federal Taxes.
Much of what was NOT admissible in this trial was STILL favorable to Trump.
Trump complied with Federal Election law,
Trump complied with Federal Tax law.
Regardless, prosecutors are precluded from introducing evidence of uncharged crimes and introducing evidence that is extraneous to the actual charged crimes, because a defendant can not be compelled to defend themselves against every possible allegation under the sun.
A criminal trial is NOT a prosecutor throwing mud to see if anything will stick with a jury.
This case will likely form a textbook example of how NOT to conduct a trial.
A criminal indictment is REQUIRED to identify EVERY element of the alleged crime and to provide proof that there already exists SOME evidence to prove each and every element.
An indictment is supposed to tell the defendant EVERYTHING that they will have to defend against in court.
That does NOT mean that the prosecution can not introduce additional evidence – though even that can only be done after the defence is given notice.
But it does mean that the defense can not FIRST learn of some elements of the charges and the prosecutions legal theory in the Judges Jury instructions AFTER closing arguments.
ATS – and the defense did precisely that.
No this was NOT a winnable case.
In court they did NOT point the finger at Biden, Bragg, or Merchan – that was done outside of the court to the far more important jury – the american people.
It appears that Jury has cast a verdict completely at odds with the jury in Manhattan.
Democrats have been frothing at the mouth publicly proving – even celebrating that this has always been about the election.
Trump will win on appeal – but who cares, he will not win until after the election.
The REAL jury was the american people.
The Manhattan Jury was just a tool in the lefts lawless attempt to persuade that jury.
Trump failed to make his case to a Manhattan jury whose real power is ephemeral – the case will be reversed on appeal.
The Jury that matters casts their verdict in November – but right now they appear to be mad – at the left.
Wait, something is wrong. I thought only Republicans are to be arrested.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/31/politics/former-second-in-command-us-navy-arrested-bribery-charges/index.html
You would think that. Cuz you’re an idiot
Manhattan D A Represents New York County
Alvin Bragg is the District Attorney of New York County which is the island Manhattan, a borough of New York City.
New York County is NOT the Federal government nor the Democratic Party. Nor is it ‘the left’!
These distinctions are important to note because way too many comments on this thread reflect a generalized notion that President Biden and, or, the Democratic Party prosecuted Donald Trump.
For the record, Donald Trump, a native New Yorker raised in the borough of Queens, has been a resident of Manhattan for most of his adult life.
The Trump Organization, Trump’s primary corporate entity, has been based at Trump Tower on Manhatten’s Fifth Avenue for almost 40 years.
Therefore any commenter implying that Trump’s prosecution originated at the White House or DNC is seriously confused about geography and jurisdictions.
This is a silly comment. What matters is who is directing this get-Ttump operation. There is abundant reason to point the finger of blame at the Biden White House.
I don’t get it. is Biden the mastermind behind all the worlds evils.
Or
is Biden a bumbling idiot that can barely walk up the stairs?
Can’t have it both ways.
You have a point. The words “Joe Biden” should always be in quotes because the phrase does not refer the person with that name but to the regime, the puppet masters, primarily Barack Obama and his third term.
SMH that you believe in a conspiracy theory about Obama.
It’s a conspiracy fact now
Do you really think that dementia addled corpse that spews slurred gibberish and can’t find his way off a stage is running the country? That’s a howler!
Its not both ways, dum dum.
Its his handlers running that, just as they are everything else.
Do you really think Joe found the millions he has given away on student loans.
Idiot.
How hard is it to say “get Trump”?
I guess now we know why you dont recognize his cognitive disability.
Obama/Clintons are the the puppet masters and Biden is the stooge. Tulsi Gabbard (D) already indicated as much. Do try to keep up.
There’s zero reason to point the finger at the Biden WH.
LOL Except al;l the meetings at the WH by all the prosecutors and the DOJ in tow and in the court on the prosecution.
Yeah, all those meetings were about the grandchildren, except one of them, Navy.
Incorrect. There are about 75 reasons.
Zero reason to ‘point’ a finger at the Biden WH but a gazillion reasons to raise a middle finger to it.
You are kidding, arent you? The Biden White House throught the DOJ are fully complicit. CoAngelo leaves the number 3 position in Garlands gang to join Bragg in NYC. NY County (Manhattan) is fully entangled with the DNC and operatives. Who funded Braggs campaign? All four prosecutions have visted the White House, Saying conspiracy theory does not negate facts. There is every reason to point to Biden/Garland for weaponization. Then there is the fully copromised judge
Persecuted not prosecuted. The White House has had a role in coordinating this lawfare, the corrupt misuse of the legal system to punish political opponents and interfere in the upcoming election. If you deny that then either you haven’t been paying attention or you’re deluded by left wing fake media, and none of your geographical or jurisdictional niceties negates that truth.
What you say isn’t the truth, it’s only what you believe.
Why did fani’s boy visit the white house?
The AG, DA, and prosecutor all support Joe Biden, and all publicly proclaimed they were going to “get Trump.”
Joe Biden’s reelection campaign held an event at the courthouse, featuring Robert DeNiro in an unhinged rant claiming that Trump was going to destroy the world. Apparently, his campaign relies on mass amnesia so people will forget how much better off we were.
There has been coordination with Joe Biden’s administration, and this trial was political warfare.
Political opponents don’t only end up in prison in Russia. It happens in the US, now, too.
“Therefore any commenter implying that Trump’s prosecution originated at the White House or DNC is seriously confused about geography and jurisdictions.”
Anyone who makes such a naive comment, does not understand the expression: “More of a royalist than the king.”
In the 1990s, lots of right-wing Christian men told me presidents who lie about sex should go to jail 🙂
In the 1990s, lots of Democrats said that lying under oath was no big deal if it was about sex.
In the 1990s
National Organization for WomenNAG: National Association of Gals and all Feminazis smiled proudly and said it was perfectly acceptable that a sexual predator US president Bill Clinton sexually abused womenNot to be outdone, Hillary, the “wife” of the open relationship marriage of that US President, destroyed those women, as a Jury of her own Peers smiled and bankrolled her financially
Evil is like that
And how did that work out???
If Joe Biden, trailing in the polls, wins reelection by throwing his opponent in prison under the pretense that a legal NDA should have been entered as a campaign contribution, then it will be the biggest election fraud ever perpetrated.
Biden isn’t trailing in the polls. Biden had nothing to do with Trump being indicted or convicted. Stop repeating lies.
See poll numbers a little further down. 15% of Republicans believe Trump is guilty. That’s significant!
And. 14% dont care, douche
See Pecker vs Wood
Biden IS trailing in the polls and he and the DNC are behind all of this.
Tell that to Karine Jean-Pierre and First Lady Jill Biden, both of whom keep telling Democrat voters not to worry, their trailing polling numbers will go up.
Joe Biden has fully embraced the Fascism of the Left, seeking to incarcerate his political opponent over an expired misdemeanor charge that an NDA should have been entered into bookkeeping as a campaign contribution to himself rather than a legal fee, which was raised to a felony for committing a second felony that was never named. Why wasn’t it named? Because the FEC stated there was no crime to prosecute, and federal elections fall under federal law.
Now that the Democrat Party has fully morphed into the modern Nazi party, perhaps the momentum in swing states will remain in Donald Trump’s favor. Joe Biden is certainly doing all he can to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.
That’s all Trumpies do, is lie and repeat lies.
Lmao denial doesnt change a thing gigi
He is trailing bigly
This is going to be a landslide.
Wanna bet a grand?
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records, not an illegal campaign contribution. Cohen is the one who made the illegal campaign contribution. Why can’t you keep these simple facts in your head?
Wrong
Joe Biden weaponized government against his political opponent, who is leading in the polls.
Donald Trump very likely will be sentenced to prison, because Democrats claim an NDA should have been entered in bookkeeping as a campaign contribution, from Trump to his own campaign, rather than a legal fee. Even if this were true, a bookkeeping error is a misdemeanor past the statute of limitations, but it was raised to a felony, via the claim it was perpetrated to commit a second felony. That felony was never specified, so the Democrat judge gave juries a variety of felonies, and told them they did not need to agree on the second felony to convict.
This is Fascist. The law has never been applied like this to anyone in American politics.
Democrats claim no one is above the law. Except for Joe Biden, whom Hur claimed was too old and confused to face criminal accountability for stealing classified information for decades. Or Hillary Clinton, who kept classified information on an illegal server she backed up to the Cloud. Comey excused her because she was running for election, and charges could be considered election interference.
NDAs are legal fees.
Let Democrats fall by their own sword. Charge Joe Biden for violation of election law, because every dime they spend on discounting the Hunter Biden laptop story should have been entered as campaign contributions, and we’re in fact election interference.
Karen: you don’t even have a fundamental understanding of the issues. Stop embarrassing yourself.
Clinton apologized for not acting soon enough to prevent the Holocaust. What did he do to prevent the Rwandan Holocaust?
WATCH GIGI RUN
Gigi – I refer you to Jonathan Turley’s blog. In this very post, Professor Turley indicated he believed the conviction would be overturned, and that the judge made multiple reversible errors.
Karen . 100% correct and not just Turley, I don’t think I have seen one known legal scholar say anything different. They all reported numerous judicial errors, Civil Rights issues and undoubtedly to be overturned. GiGi is a kook, pay her no mind, she has TDS and it’s a terminal case.
Turley lost all credibility when he went on the Fox payroll. He is the butt of jokes on attorney blogs. Turley is paid to shovel chum to the disciples.
Please provide a link to one of these jokes Gigi
By the way, you are the butt of jokes here every day. Yet you keep poking your head up, saying more stupid shit, as though you have zero self respect.
You have more entries on the lefty turd farm than anyone except Svelaz.
Tell us about the 12th amendment again, Ms Fundamental
It’s unlikely that Trump will be sentenced to prison. It’s his first conviction and only a class E felony.
“because Democrats claim an NDA should have been entered in bookkeeping as a campaign contribution, from Trump to his own campaign, rather than a legal fee”
Nope. Cohen is the one who made the illegal campaign contribution. Trump could have legally paid Daniels off, but then he’d have had to report the payoff, and he didn’t want to. So Trump falsified business records to reimburse Cohen. It’s not “a bookkeeping error,” FFS. You want to give Trump a pass for falsifying business records. Why? Are you OK in general with white collar crime? Do you only care about street crime? Shame on you.
Other people have been convicted of the same crime as Trump. He’s not above the law simply because he’s in politics.
“NDAs are legal fees.”
But falsifying business records is NOT. Get the facts straight. (I know, you don’t want to get the facts straight. You want to believe your false version because it’s more comfortable for you.)
No one has been convicted in a time-barred and resurrected business records case under a federal election statute in a state court before, and never will be again.
Get YOUR facts straight and stop lying that this was somehow regular practice.
Other people have been convicted of the same crime as Trump.
Name the other persons convicted of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree in Manhattan in the last 10 years.
While you’re at it, why wasn’t Michael Cohen?
I despise lying sacks of shit who just make it up as they go along.
how is a payment to anyone FOR anything a legal fee unless you are paying a lawyer for services rendered. Stormy is NOT a lawyer AFAIK, and despite Cohen (a lawyer) paying Stormy for an NDA DOES NOT make it legal fees and the only legal fees are those paid to Cohen for professional services rendered in the form of hourly billings AND NOT repayment to him for paying ones debts or other financial obligations. Right?
Wrong. The NDA was between Cohen and Daniels.
Next?
Cohen then illegally charged Trump for “legal fees” as a way to recoup his payment to Daniels.
He also tacked on 50 grand that never made it where it was supposed to go. Grand larceny.
What astounds me about the Trump verdict, other than it’s wrong, is the lack of feeling for our country by those on the Left. The Left is pulling for him to be jailed, dead, etc.
50 years ago, Nixon was in the process of being impeached. I was a democrat, we become wiser as we get older, and I wanted him impeached, and to go through the process. But, he resigned, the first US President to do so.
I had tears in my eyes when he left by helicopter. I was sad. Not for him, I was sad for my country. I was glad when Ford pardoned him so the nation wouldn’t have to go through more. We needed healing, not hateful heartlessness. I guess democrats really no longer care about the United States of America.
They never did
attyleethompson98 — Under the precent of English common law, the truth of guilt or its lack is to be determined by “12 men tried and true”, now of course men and women. There is a long history of the striving for this method of determining truth, avoiding the star chamber and royal prerogative. Would you rather that we return to trial by combat?
So convictions should never be appealed because juries are always right. How’s that for stupid?
Would you rather that we return to trial by combat?
Yup. Evolutionary principles rule, Benson. It would satisfy all of your virtue signaling dogmas:
reduce Carbon footprint
reduce CO2 emissions
reduce hunger
reduce over population
reduce inequity
reduce disparities
You know, think of the children
And yet Merchan made this into a kangaroo court.
He didn’t.
As we see the verdict was swayed, directed, and locked in by the corrupt prosecutors and judge, with twisted lies as instructions to the jury.
So we never really have 12 peers judging, we have a top down system that demands compliance with the judge and DA, who really make the decisions.
It’s all in “the instructions”.
Benson: “truth of guilt or its lack is to be determined by “12 men tried and true”,
And that thar is the problem Benson. Trump had biased jurors and a judge who would make a pretzel look like a straight edge.
Reeks of corruption.
Trial by combat would have been better. Trump would have easily knocked down Fatso.
Atty Lee, you’re breaking my heart. The only threat to the U.S. right now is Trump and his Pavlovian supporters.
Which U.S? The Marxist one that exists now, or the country that was created under the freedom guarantees of the Constitution? Yes, Trump and the smart people he represents are a true threat to the Marxist enemies of the Constitution, and rightly so. THE SLEEPING DRAGON IS AWAKENING.
Hunter is a drug dealing, tax evading, unemployed sexist who thumbs his nose at Congress as Joey proclaims his pride in his son. Leftist blame conservatives for mentioning Hunter’s and Joe’s conspiracy to deceive and obfuscate their mob atctivities establishing hundreds of shell companies.
Joe Biden just commented on the Trump conviction stating “No One is above the Law”,
Lets see what happen to Joe’s son Hunter in his next two Trials.
and according to Joe-tard “hunter is the smartest man I know” and is also the worlds most successful crack head junkie.
YouGov Poll Bodes Badly For Trump
Half of Americans agree with a Manhattan jury’s verdict that Donald Trump was guilty of 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records to cover up an alleged affair with an adult film actress. Another 30% disagree, and 19% of Americans aren’t sure, in a YouGov snap poll conducted hours after the verdict Thursday.
Americans’ immediate reactions are polarized along party lines, with 86% of Democrats but just 15% of Republicans believing the former president is guilty of felony charges. Independents are nearly twice as likely to think he’s guilty as to think he’s not.
https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/49569-snap-poll-50-of-americans-approve-of-trumps-hush-money-conviction
…………………………………………..
In that first paragraph we learn that 19% of Americans aren’t sure whether they agree or disagree with Trump’s conviction. The second paragraph tells us that 15% of Republicans believe Trump is guilty.
One has to pause here and note that although Niki Haley suspended her primary campaign back in March, she has continued drawing between 15 and 20% of Republican primary votes.
Therefore one can see that Haley’s percentage of primary votes roughly coincides with the 15% of Republicans who believe Trump is guilty. This correlation cannot possibly bode well for Trump ‘or’ the Republican Party.
No wonder Trump made a point of thoroughly taking over the RNC. He wants to make damn sure the party won’t dump him for Niki Haley!
^^ Paid DNC troll. Ignore. ^^
Turdrunner posts while waiting for his mom to get home from her glory hole gig at the local pool hall and fix him dinner.
Someone tell him about the 4 points Trump Picked up
Amongst independents by being convicted.
Bwahahahahahaha
This moron thinks trump being “guilty” is gonna be the straw that makes those 15% vote for biden
Lmao what a douche.