Creeper

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Now that Trump has been sentenced he can appeal the verdict to a higher court. I don't think any NY court will be sympathetic but I do think the US supreme court will overturn this ridiculous case and throw out Trump's felony conviction. The entire case was absurd from the beginning. Since when in American can a person be convicted of an unspecified crime, as Trump was in this case?

To review, Trump was charged with 34 counts of business fraud, a state misdemeanor crime for which the statute of limitations had run out. However, NY state law allows the crime to be elevated to a felony if the fraud was intended to cover up another crime. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg contended Trump's misclassification of payments to Michael Cohen was intended to cover up another crime and defraud voters by hiding his NDA from them. According to Bragg, a politician hiding negative information about himself is election fraud, a federal crime for which Trump was never charged. In fact, federal prosecutors investigated this case and chose not to prosecute this crime - mostly because it is an idiotic idea. But Bragg used the federal election law to elevate Trump's charges to felonies and circumvent the statute of limitations. Judge Merchan allowed this perversion of the law to move forward. Bragg never charged Trump with the underlying crime. In fact he never identified a specific crime that Trump tried to cover up. Instead he offered to the jury a list of possible crimes Trump committed that he wanted to cover up and the judge told the jury they did not have to agree on which crime Trump covered up! Trump not having any idea of which crime he was accused of committing was not allowed to offer a defense. Then a jury of Manhattan voters convicted him on all 34 counts, which were really all the same payment to Michael Cohen.

To be clear, the payments made by a Trump organization were classified "legal expenses". Michael Cohen was representing Trump as an attorney when he negotiated the NDA with Stormy Daniels. How this is fraud is yet another mystery.

There are several arguments that would get this case overturned on appeal, but depriving Trump of due process sticks out as the most obvious one. A defendant has the right to know what crimes he is charged with.
 

yimyammer

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34 counts

these are a joke as well deliberately enumerated to sound more more egregious to an ignorant general public, thus the constrain refrain of "34 time felon" which has a much better ring to it than simply felon, no?

In case anyone isnt aware, the 34 "felonies" are the following:

* Cohen sent 11 invoices to the Trump org..BAM! there's 11 felonies

* The Trump orgs accounting staff opened the mail and entered these invoices into the company accounting system through 12 separate entries...BAM! There's another 12 felonies

* The Trump orgs accounting staff paid each of the 11 invoices..BAM! 11 more felonies

11+12+11= 34

Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of a felony.

To me, this would be like someone getting caught for stealing a bag of Hershey kisses and instead of getting charged for stealing a bag of chocolate, the DA opens the bag, counts out 112 chocolates and charges the perp with 112 counts of theft

nonsense, at least in my example a crime was committed, I still don't understand what crime was committed in Trumps case
 

daboyz

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Did anyone watch this interview this morning w/Melania? What a beautiful classy future first lady. She speaks from the heart & has absolutely no arrogance whatsoever. Loved how she stated I don't always agree w/husband on his decisions. Sometimes he agrees w/me, sometimes he doesn't. That's a statement every American couple can make.20250113_085424.jpg20250113_091934.jpg
 

Creeper

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these are a joke as well deliberately enumerated to sound more more egregious to an ignorant general public, thus the constrain refrain of "34 time felon" which has a much better ring to it than simply felon, no?

In case anyone isnt aware, the 34 "felonies" are the following:

* Cohen sent 11 invoices to the Trump org..BAM! there's 11 felonies

* The Trump orgs accounting staff opened the mail and entered these invoices into the company accounting system through 12 separate entries...BAM! There's another 12 felonies

* The Trump orgs accounting staff paid each of the 11 invoices..BAM! 11 more felonies

11+12+11= 34

Not exactly what comes to mind when I think of a felony.

To me, this would be like someone getting caught for stealing a bag of Hershey kisses and instead of getting charged for stealing a bag of chocolate, the DA opens the bag, counts out 112 chocolates and charges the perp with 112 counts of theft

nonsense, at least in my example a crime was committed, I still don't understand what crime was committed in Trumps case

There was no crime, but the prosecutors convinced a judge and jury that what Trump did was a crime. There is a reason they brought these cases against Trump in NYC and DC. They knew they would get juries to do exactly what they wanted then to do, which was to convict Trump where there was no crime.

As I stated earlier, nothing about this case involves criminal activity. Michael Cohen negotiated an NDA with Stormy Daniels. Who negotiates legal agreements on behalf of a client? An attorney. So it is reasonable to assume Cohen was acting as Trump's attorney during these negotiations.

Cohen sent Trump invoices for his services including the money he paid to Stormy Daniels. The Trump organization paid them in installments and categorized the payments in their accounting system as legal fees. How is this a crime if you are paying an attorney for his services? It's not and it never was. But if you claim Trump was actually trying to hide another crime, without naming the crime then you can make the argument it was fraud. This is what Bragg did and he got a jury to go along with him.

The judge should have dismissed this case on several grounds. It is a ridiculous accusation. How can a prosecutor accuse a defendant of a crime but not identify the crime he committed? How does a defendant defend himself in court without knowing the charges against him. The constitution is supposed to prevent prosecutions like this.

Trump was deprived of his right to due process. He was deprived of his right to know what charges were brought against him. He was deprived of his right to a proper defense because the judge would not allow an FEC chairman to testify why Trump's actions did not constitution federal election crimes.

I am certain this felony will be reversed on appeal. Maybe not in NY but at the Supreme Court. In the meantime, every person doing business in NY should beware. There is no system of justice there. If they want to get you they will do it and the courts will allow it. Get out of NY while you have a chance.
 
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