We all knew it was inevitable because it was clear from the beginning that the trial was rigged. A biased partisan prosecutor fabricated charges in front of a hack judge and a jury of stupid rabid liberals with not enough integrity to see past their own hate to uphold the rule of law. All of this was done for political reasons to eliminate a presidential candidate for the benefit of the sitting incumbent. From the perspective of thinking of the general health of our Republic, this is a true turning point. We do not easily walk back from this.
From a political perspective, the verdict is still out. No doubt this will continue to polarize the electorate. I can say from personal observation that it has hardened my mind. It has moved me from being a grouchy and reluctant Trump voter to one who will vote for him for the sake of our Republic. If Biden and the Democrats are allowed to retain and extend their power after throwing their opponents in jail, they will repeat the tactic at all levels forevermore. Biden has become America’s Putin.
It is also noting how the Democrats are willing to mobilize the entire judicial system to prosecute and convict Trump for an alleged paperwork crime (it was not a crime) from a decade ago, but they let rapists, thieves, and violent criminals walk the streets with impunity. Were I a New Yorker, I would be beside myself that I can’t safely walk through Central Park while my politicians use the police and judicial system to further their political interests.
There will be brighter days, but our Republic is different now. Worse. More flawed. Less fair. Less free.
Or, look at it like this. No one is above the law. He was found guilty by a jury of his peers. 12 citizens of the city he lived in for decades thought that what he did were felonies. Sure, make the argument that he wouldn’t have been brought to trial if it weren’t for his very visible position. But his lawyers were not able to convince a SINGLE person on that jury that he was not guilty. Even the one that said that Truth Social was their primary news source.
Donald Trump knowingly gave money to Cohen to pay off an affair he had. What have we learned??? Pay off your mistresses in person.
IMO, he should NOT serve any time. He isn’t a violent offender and there would be no purpose in putting him behind bars for this. He basically falsified business documents. Throw a big fine at him and move on. This won’t hurt him with Republicans. Probably won’t hurt him much with Independents.
In my dream scenario, the RNC pulls Trump and puts in DeSantis or Haley. Then Biden sees that he isn’t needed any longer to beat Trump and steps down for what would probably be Kamala. And the 2 old men just vanish into the political sunset. But, both are too stubborn and are thinking more of their own legacy to do anything like that.
Sidenote, how bad to Trumps lawyers suck? Has he won a single case with any of them? Maybe he should stiff them and not the hundreds of other people who he has in the past.
Since the “judge”-kangaroo instructed the jury that only 4 of them had to find Trump guilty of any of a dozen or two potential crimes, but NOT of the charged crime, which no Federal prosecutor would touch, nor would the Manhattan DA–until he reversed himself–………it’s clear that Trump is guilty.
No doubt.
Signed, sealed, delivered.
And the Easter Bunny will visit you in person, just like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. In PERSON.
These are dangerous times. Someday those currently doing the cheering are going to find themselves on the wrong side of power and subject to the beast they created. They will deserve nothing more than fair and equal treatment.
Merlin, you’re far too kind. Give them only ‘equal’ treatment and give it to them good and hard.
For the benefit of certain people who comment on this blogsite until facts chase them away, here are some thoughts on the Court of Star Chamber proceedings from a law commentator who is NOT a Trump fan.
…the judge has ruled that the jury does not have to agree on what actually occurred in the case. Merchan ruled that the government had vaguely referenced three possible crimes that constitute the “unlawful means” used to influence the election: a federal election violation, the falsification of business records, and a tax violation. The jurors were told that they could split on what occurred, with four jurors accepting each of the three possible crimes in a 4-4-4 split. The court would still consider that a unanimous verdict so long as they agree that it was in furtherance of some crime.
Second, the judge said that he would instruct the jury on the law but then omitted the key elements that established there was no federal campaign violation. …
…Merchan is allowing conviction based on a “general intent” to defraud “any person or entity,” a dangerously vague concept in this novel criminal case. Merchan has largely stuck to the standard jury instructions but this case is anything but standard. With an ambiguous claim of “influencing” an election, a general intent instruction without better definition to this case can be an invitation for bias….
So says Turley, with more here: https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/30/a-manhattan-canned-hunt-the-trump-jury-is-out-but-is-the-case-in-the-bag/
All 34 counts claimed “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, ”.
As far as the 3 made up “possible crimes”, the “election violation” BS is the most absurd.
Why? Because all 34 documents the charges are based on are dated after Trump was elected, some by more than a year.
Injurious crime, like fraud, requires an identifiable victim before charges can even brought. Guessing who or flagrant conjecture is not legal grounds, as Turley notes.
Lastly, it is laughable that a billionaire would be concerned over a (unnamed) tax violation on $130 grand.
This will be easily overturned on appeal, mainly because the corrupt Merchan disallowed the defense its rightful witnesses.
MJM. If it is overturned on appeal, great. Courtrooms and juries get things wrong.
But man, do I find it hilarious that the side that coined the term “Lock Her Up!!!” and screamed it for two full years suddenly has their panties in a bunch because someone was actually brought to court AND convicted (and will most likely serve no time). Frankly I want to see more politicians in court for the BS that they do. Someone get Bob Menendez in court. The fact that he hasn’t been booted is a disgrace.
Another good one by Turley is here; https://jonathanturley.org/2024/06/01/the-ghost-of-john-adams-how-the-trump-trial-harkens-back-to-a-dark-period-of-american-law/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
It was a BS case with one purpose. I’m no fan of Trump but he was convicted before the ‘trial’ even started. I have no use for gutless Republicans but I damn near hate Leftists, which is what the Democrats have embraced.
“jonnyv on June 1, 2024 at 4:46 pm
I find it hilarious that the side that coined the term “Lock Her Up!!!” and screamed it for two full years”
Do you remember WHY we were saying “lock her up”? Because DOJ said she committed crimes but “no reasonable prosecutor” would charge her because it would look like a political trial.
I also remember the “Citizen’s arrest” attempts on Pres Bush and his administration. I also remember him being hanged in effigy during protests. The left has been trying by any means necessary for decades. Now they have prosecutors and judges that celebrate political trials.
Yes, we are calling for the fair application of justice.
The creation of crimes after the commission of the fact, or in other words, the subjecting of men to punishment for things which, when they were done, were breaches of no law, and the practice of arbitrary imprisonments have been in all ages the favourite and most formidable instruments of tyranny. – Federalist Paper #84
Bragg fals charged Trump with falsifying business records in the first degree under New York’s Penal Law § 175.10. That is, 34 misdemeanors.
But that wasn’t good enough to eliminate Trump so Bragg – and his newly hired “Senior Counsel”, Biden DOJ #3 Matthew Colangelo – corruptly added the false “intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof” in order to up the charges to felonies.
Bragg’s charging papers did not name, speculate, or otherwise identify “another crime” nor did it lay out how Trump “aided and concealed the commission” of the unknown other “crime”
It wasn’t until nine months later, after Trump filed a motion to dismiss, that Bragg made his first four guesses at what other crimes Trump might have been contemplating (but not actually done) to aid and conceal.
It was during the judication of this motion that commie judge Merchan divined out of thin air that what the NY legislators really meant by NY’s § 175.10 is that “does not require that the ‘other crime’ actually be committed”.
Got that?
We are falsely enhancing and corruptly charging you of this after-the-fact crime because of “another crime” you did not actually commit.
JV giggles like a valley girl: I do I find it hilarious that the side that coined the term “Lock Her Up!!!”
I’m sure you do, because actual criminal activity by hildabeast means zilch to you.
Trump may ultimately win the appeals process, but not before the election and that’s all that matters to Dems for now. The lefties are going to control the media narrative all the way to the election and they’re going to hammer these convictions for all they can get out of it. If the polling between now and the sentencing date doesn’t benefit Biden, Marchan will just sentence Trump to prison time and make him sit there as the process goes out of his hands. If Trump’s appeals should eventually prevail they’ll just blame it on the illegitimacy of the judicial system they themselves corrupted. The meatheads cheering now don’t seem to understand what’s happened. They can’t comprehend that what’s been done for them can and will be done to them.
Putin and Xi have to be admiring this crap.
“Someone get Bob Menendez in court.”
Umm, he is standing trial right now.
But as usual, JonnyV is using the talking points provided to him by the radical liberal media. Even just the regular liberal media thinks this was a sham trial.
The worst part of this situation and this commentary in particular is that the liberal is not condemning the false charges and false trial. He is actually defending it and that means so will most other Dems. I will say in my case that I will vote for Trump now, though I would not have imagined doing it before this year. If Dems successfully convert the judicial system into the anti-Dem judicial system in addition to holding the reins of education that champions failure (dumber people believe dumber stories) the idea of a Democratic rule of law is entirely gone, and any intelligent person will know that. Only a successfully programmed Dem can laugh at and approve of this.
Making pretend felonies out of misdemeanors…JV, do you know what that means and just how rottenly corrupt our judicial system has to be to do such a thing?
On requiring only 4 people to be convinced per charge, does anyone know what that actually meant? Could only 4 people say guilty to all 3 charge groups while the other 8 said no or undecided, or did all 12 have to conclude (sort of) guilty on at least one of the three (sort of felony) count categories? I wasn’t clear on that.