45th President Of The United States, Donald Trump (Vol. 14)

[Byker28i]

Seems to be the latest appeal to the faithful that the judge is so unfair... he hasn't ruled on it yet...

[Countdown]

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

[5 In a Row]

Countdown said:

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

Er, especially point 3 - "Sorry officer, I was doing 34mph past that school, it's a minor thing".

Doesn't matter how minor it is if you get caught breaking the law then you were still breaking the law.

Or are you going to let EVERYBODY off with every 'minor thing'?

[Byker28i]

Countdown said:

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

Well she's an ardent trump supporter so may just be biased
https://twitter.com/megynkelly/status/178005759178...

It's not a hush money case, it's another business fraud case. trump committed further business fraud because he didn't want to use his own money, then somehow managed to spend $420k through Cohen

Karen McDougal, a Playboy model, had a year long affair with trump and was paid $150,000 by AMI on behalf of trump to keep the story quiet
Stormy Daniels, was paid $130,000 by Cohen on behalf of trump to sign a nondisclosure agreement about her one night brief moment. Remember Cohen got a loan against his house to pay this, then finally got the money back from trump.
Then there's the money paid to the doorman to keep his story quiet about an alleged illegimate child of trumps.

Both Cohen and AMI have both admitted they broke laws by making these payments in an effort to hide unflattering information before the 2016 election. Cohen has been to jail for a year for his part in which trump was also named, but not charged at the time, because he was potus and protected, had lackeys in the DOJ etc stopping him being charged.

Cohen pled guilty to two campaign finance charges back in August 2018: causing an unlawful campaign contribution for organising the payment from AMI to McDougal, and making an excessive campaign contribution for the payment to Daniels.

Cohen has recordings of trump showing he had full knowledge of the payments

So yes whilst the 34 counts of falsifying business records is a minor (ish) offence, the felony offence is falsifying business records with the intent to commit or conceal another crime connected to his 2016 campaign - again - Cohen was sent to jail for this.

Cohen obviously feels thats unfar that trump escaped/was protected, especially as trump tried to do a Weisselberg to him, get him to lie for money, go to jail for him, then dropped him and in fact had him sent back to jail to try to stop him writing a book.


So yes - of course the trump supporters/Fox/Laura Ingram etc are trying to push that it's just trump trying to keep stories about his affairs quiet, but it's actually much more than that. Easy for them to present it as a hush money case, rather than a third case of trump business fraud

Edited by Byker28i on Tuesday 16th April 09:57

[Bonefish Blues]

Countdown said:

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

Yes I subscribe to it. I thought she was an interesting counterpoint, and importantly, reflective of the pov of an awful lot of Americans at the moment, I think - to whom Agent Orange plays as he appears behind those barriers (the only way it could be better was if he was in 'cuffs!)

Some interesting observations about Biden & his fitness, too - but not for here

Edited by Bonefish Blues on Tuesday 16th April 12:00

[silentbrown]

Countdown said:

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

1. 1: Grand Jury makes decision to indict, not DA. (And Bragg had prosecutors resigning because he wouldn't indict Trump over the asset valuations)
2. 2: Yes (which is why that's not the issue)
3. 3: Prosecuted, not sued, obvs. But this is why it's a felony, not a misdemeanour:-

"The defendant, in the County of New York and elsewhere, on or about December 5, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, a Donald J.
Trump account check and check stub dated December 5, 2017, bearing check number 003006, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization."

[Byker28i]

As I said, trump apologists want to portray this as just a hush money case, a minor thing, when it's actually yet another case of business fraud, and dodgy accounting/record keeping

[Countdown]

5 In a Row said:

Er, especially point 3 - "Sorry officer, I was doing 34mph past that school, it's a minor thing".

Doesn't matter how minor it is if you get caught breaking the law then you were still breaking the law.

Or are you going to let EVERYBODY off with every 'minor thing'?

Kelly's point was that prosecuting the former President when lots of other people do the same thing made it look like a political witch-hunt and (basically) it was a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

[KaraK]

Countdown said:

5 In a Row said:

Er, especially point 3 - "Sorry officer, I was doing 34mph past that school, it's a minor thing".

Doesn't matter how minor it is if you get caught breaking the law then you were still breaking the law.

Or are you going to let EVERYBODY off with every 'minor thing'?

Kelly's point was that prosecuting the former President when lots of other people do the same thing made it look like a political witch-hunt and (basically) it was a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Since AFAIK she isn't saying that the hundreds of other people who have been prosecuted for the same offence in recent years shouldn't have been then it is difficult to draw any other conclusion than that she believes Don Snoreleone deserves special treatment. And (perhaps controversially) I think she's got a point, just not in the way she'd like it to be. Those in high positions of power (or in the running for them) should be more stringently examined for corruption than the average joe not the other way round.

[Byker28i]

Countdown said:

5 In a Row said:

Er, especially point 3 - "Sorry officer, I was doing 34mph past that school, it's a minor thing".

Doesn't matter how minor it is if you get caught breaking the law then you were still breaking the law.

Or are you going to let EVERYBODY off with every 'minor thing'?

Kelly's point was that prosecuting the former President when lots of other people do the same thing made it look like a political witch-hunt and (basically) it was a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But she would say that.
The same Megyn Kelly who claims, Trump Trial Circus Begins, and Biden Foreign Policy Chao, that the statute of limitations had run out on trump, who's full of the GOP faked talking points,

What next, Elsie Stefanik?

[Pincher]

Don Snoreleone

[dobbo_]

" lots of people do crimes and get away with them, So we should let the person we want to be the next president of the United States get away with doing crimes"

Hot take right there

[Bonefish Blues]

She also made the point that, in terms, it's unhelpful to the credibility of the process when the DA(?) ran on a 'I'll get Trump' ticket.

[hidetheelephants]

Byker28i said:

Remember Andrew Clyde, Lloyd Smucker, and former Rep. Louie Gohmert were fined $5k each for dodging the security scanners, installed after trumps insurrection day. The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by them.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/0...

So SCOTUS managed to address this rubbish in a timely manner but couldn't schedule the South Carolina racist gerrymander case which was taken up in fking October? As a consequence the people of SC have a racist electoral map again and the justices have the gall to whine about how no one has respect for the institution anymore.

Countdown said:

5 In a Row said:

Er, especially point 3 - "Sorry officer, I was doing 34mph past that school, it's a minor thing".

Doesn't matter how minor it is if you get caught breaking the law then you were still breaking the law.

Or are you going to let EVERYBODY off with every 'minor thing'?

Kelly's point was that prosecuting the former President when lots of other people do the same thing made it look like a political witch-hunt and (basically) it was a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Other politicians doing electoral finance fraud go to gaol, or would have had TFG not pardoned them; why should TFG be special?

KaraK said:

Don Snoreleone

Byker28i said:

Elsie Stefanik

[Mr Penguin]

Countdown said:

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

There is an article in the Times about point 3 saying that it's very very rare for it to be the lead infraction of the lead defendant. Either it's used as a plea bargain negotiation chip or its something they use against very junior members of the conspiracy.

[hidetheelephants]

Bonefish Blues said:

She also made the point that, in terms, it's unhelpful to the credibility of the process when the DA(?) ran on a 'I'll get Trump' ticket.

I quite agree, elected DAs, judges etc. is a completely insane policy and I look forward to those posts being abolished and the US entering the 20th century 24 years too late.

[5 In a Row]

Countdown said:

5 In a Row said:

Er, especially point 3 - "Sorry officer, I was doing 34mph past that school, it's a minor thing".

Doesn't matter how minor it is if you get caught breaking the law then you were still breaking the law.

Or are you going to let EVERYBODY off with every 'minor thing'?

Kelly's point was that prosecuting the former President when lots of other people do the same thing made it look like a political witch-hunt and (basically) it was a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Fair point if everybody else who did it got let off but surely the President of the United States should be held to the highest standards?
If you let them off then where do you stop?

[Mortarboard]

Mr Penguin said:

Countdown said:

Does anybody listen to the "Americast" podcast? Megyn Kelly was on the latest episode and put forward what i thought was quite a good argument for why this case is "politically motivated". Apparently

1. The DA prosecuting the case ran on a platform of taking Trump to court when he stood for election
2. There's nothing illegal about paying hush money
3. trump's basically being sued for illegally claiming the payment as a business expense, ergo it's such a minor thing

There is an article in the Times about point 3 saying that it's very very rare for it to be the lead infraction of the lead defendant. Either it's used as a plea bargain negotiation chip or its something they use against very junior members of the conspiracy.

Isn't this the event that got Cohen a year in jail? Trump was literally the "unindicted co-conspirator" iirc.

So more the case of "why should trump get a pass, after the other guy spent a year in jail?"

Wesselberg might have an opinion on similar issues too

M.

[Byker28i]

Bonefish Blues said:

She also made the point that, in terms, it's unhelpful to the credibility of the process when the DA(?) ran on a 'I'll get Trump' ticket.

That is more to the point, but these appointments are political. And of course there's all sorts of mud being slung to see if any can stick, no matter if it's got any merit or not, and thats from trump downwards.

trump thinks he's above the law, the GOP think that anything trump does should be excused provided he gets them into power...

Note: trump is in court for election interference and business fraud - not for making a hush money payment.
Judge Merchan made the point to prospective jurors "that Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election."

The crime alleged in this case is felony document falsification, as the judge detailed. That requires intent to conceal, aid or commit another crime, with the prosecution needing to prove that the intent was to violate federal campaign finance laws and also the state statute prohibiting the 'unlawful influence' of an election.

Edited by Byker28i on Tuesday 16th April 14:28

[Byker28i]

CNN on the trump surrogates out there to push the disinformation on the latest trump trial

Don't mention Hush Money for trumpa affairs, claim instead its 'entries in the company’s records,' and claim trump 'did not control the books.'"
So going for the full Weisselberg again - claiming someone else was responsible

Do say it's 'a full-frontal assault on American Democracy and the Constitution'
Do claim it's a 'witch hunt',
Do claim it's all driven by Biden deliberately to hurt trumps campaign

Don't forget to claim trump did nothing wrong
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/politics/trump-...