Trump's charges, an explainer and thoughts:
From what I hear, this is the jury charge for Donald Trump’s indictment.
New York PL § 175.10,
FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE 1ST DEGREE.
INTENT is an element, which is why they need Michael Cohen.
This is the felony charge which requires, as another element, that it was done to cover up a crime.
PL § 175.05 is 2nd degree and a misdemeanor, lacking that second element. The attempt to elevate it to a Class E Felony, is solely to get around the statute of limitations clock which, Bragg will argue, tolled when Trump was out of state.
A biased judge can let the indictment stand. but appeals, if he’s convicted, would be another matter.
Bragg’s entire case will rest on Trump covering up a campaign finance crime which the FEC said didn’t happen. Between that, and the timing, appeals are a no brainer, as in NY, the state constitution guarantees a speedy trial, and federally, it’s a clear cut 6th amendment argument.
I don’t think Trump is in any peril. It’s a joke of a case and a political hit job as is obvious to everyone (with a functioning brain that is), even CNN! It won’t hold up.
But they’re betting everything on it, and I’ll want revenge.
Pendulums bruh.
They’re not trying to get him to win the nomination with this. They really do want to prevent him from ever running. That’s obvious. I know a lot of very smart conservatives say this is a play to get him the nomination so they can beat him. It’s not.
They’re using this, Georgia’s laughingstock, and the special counsel over classified docs, to try to kneecap him.
That’s obvious by now. They actually are trying to use a corrupt justice system to eliminate and imprison a political opponent and opposition leader.
This is incomprehensibly bad and they don’t fear the other half of the country.
Here is some of the case law in NY that Bragg will use to defeat statute of limitations, which is 5 yrs. He has to argue that the clock tolled when Trump was out of state. There is some precedent, but this is unique. Misdemeanor was 2 years. Hence the elevation to felony.
If Bragg is ballsy and Isikoff was given wrong info or the language was off, he could try NY PL § 175.35, or
OFFERING A FALSE INSTRUMENT FOR FILING IN THE FIRST DEGREE. Jury charge below.
This is a Class D felony but it’s
OFFERING instead of just
FALSIFYING. So, highly unlikely.
Bragg MUST prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Trump had the intent to cover up a crime. Mens rea is a required element. Unless new evidence came up, Michael Cohen, admitted perjurer and liar, may be the only witness for such a claim.
So: Can any of these cases stop Trump?
No.
Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution.
>POTUS must be:
- Natural born citizen
- 35 yrs old
- Resident for 14 yrs.
SCOTUS bars congress from adding requirements, like a clean criminal record. He could run from jail.