Thanks to Frank Bruni for recognizing, all too briefly, that it is painful to see the weakest of the four Trump indictments going first. An acquittal will just fuel the notion that this is a political prosecution – a persecution – making subsequent prosecutions increasingly difficult.
The hush money indictment requires Bragg to prove a cr…
Thanks to Frank Bruni for recognizing, all too briefly, that it is painful to see the weakest of the four Trump indictments going first. An acquittal will just fuel the notion that this is a political prosecution – a persecution – making subsequent prosecutions increasingly difficult.
The hush money indictment requires Bragg to prove a crime within a crime. Media coverage, especially from the left, focuses blindly on the seedy understory and the effort to “interfere with the 2016 election.” But a candidate's effort to suppress negative information is not, by itself, a crime.
The hush money indictment requires proof that records were falsified with the specific intent to defraud someone and to do so by concealing the commission of another crime, in this case, disguising an illegal campaign contribution. That is a stretch, at best.
I pray that I am wrong, that Bragg has a better underlying crime, but based on what I have read so far I would have trouble convicting him on these particular charges and fear a jury will too. I say this based on 40 years as a federal prosecutor and Wisconsin Circuit Court judge.
Meanwhile, the most compelling of the four cases – the Mara Lago documents indictment – Is poised to go last and, sadly, maybe never. That case is a prosecutorial slam dunk if there ever was one, so strong even Judge Aileen Cannon cannot wave it away.
By the way, thanks also for one of the finest bulwark podcasts ever. It finally inspired me to take out an annual subscription.
The analysis on Lawfare makes me hopeful: they're complimentary of both the prosecutors' skills and their focus, which is on the election connection, not the seedy side. It may be the weakest of the cases, but that doesn't mean that it's weak. The jury seems attentive and educated, and the judge is no-nonsense. Trump is getting something that he's avoided all his life, a fair trial.
Thanks to Frank Bruni for recognizing, all too briefly, that it is painful to see the weakest of the four Trump indictments going first. An acquittal will just fuel the notion that this is a political prosecution – a persecution – making subsequent prosecutions increasingly difficult.
The hush money indictment requires Bragg to prove a crime within a crime. Media coverage, especially from the left, focuses blindly on the seedy understory and the effort to “interfere with the 2016 election.” But a candidate's effort to suppress negative information is not, by itself, a crime.
The hush money indictment requires proof that records were falsified with the specific intent to defraud someone and to do so by concealing the commission of another crime, in this case, disguising an illegal campaign contribution. That is a stretch, at best.
I pray that I am wrong, that Bragg has a better underlying crime, but based on what I have read so far I would have trouble convicting him on these particular charges and fear a jury will too. I say this based on 40 years as a federal prosecutor and Wisconsin Circuit Court judge.
Meanwhile, the most compelling of the four cases – the Mara Lago documents indictment – Is poised to go last and, sadly, maybe never. That case is a prosecutorial slam dunk if there ever was one, so strong even Judge Aileen Cannon cannot wave it away.
By the way, thanks also for one of the finest bulwark podcasts ever. It finally inspired me to take out an annual subscription.
The analysis on Lawfare makes me hopeful: they're complimentary of both the prosecutors' skills and their focus, which is on the election connection, not the seedy side. It may be the weakest of the cases, but that doesn't mean that it's weak. The jury seems attentive and educated, and the judge is no-nonsense. Trump is getting something that he's avoided all his life, a fair trial.