Trump Indictment  by Tom Reynolds

The Left is so worried by Donald Trump and those that support him that they twice impeached him.  The purpose of impeachment is to remove a person from office, but the second impeachment came after Trump left office and was so extreme that even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court refused to participate. Now, the Left are so afraid that Trump will run and win in 2024 that the Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg has trumped up criminal charges against him.

Just as important to the left, they do not want anyone to forget that if you oppose the Left, you will be punished and no one, even a billionaire ex-president is beyond their reach.  This has been a highly visible effort over the past few years: General Michael Flynn, George Papadapoulos, Carter Page, Paul Manafort and others were all subject to politically motivated investigations designed to punish and bankrupt them for working for Trump.  If the Left can go after a billionaire ex-president, even if not successful, what chance will an ordinary citizen have?  That’s the lesson the Left wants learned by all who oppose them.

As Trump has said before, they are really going after us and he is standing in the way. How many of us would have the money to defend ourself against the federal government with its unlimited funding?  This must be stopped, now.

In the Left’s latest effort, Donald Trump has been indicted by a NY City D A and is scheduled to be arrested on Tuesday.  What he is charged with has not been released but there are numerous leaks from Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg’s office (in spite of it being illegal to leak Grand Jury actions).

Whether or not you like Trump, based on what we know:

There is no there, there.

One of the ‘crimes’ involves a payment to a woman (or women) not to disclose an affair with Trump.  The payment was not made with campaign funds but the Left claims it was a crime not to be reported as a campaign contribution. 

Personal payments for what would normally be personal expenses are not usually reportable as campaign contributions, even if they might help the campaign.  For example: if immediately before a campaign event, Kamala Harris gets her hair done and in the unlikely event she pays for it herself, it would not be a campaign contribution since getting her hair done is a normal (dare I antagonize the gender police by saying) female activity. 

Campaign related reporting issues are usually remedied without a lawsuit - unless you are Donald Trump.

But here is the real killer: both the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Department of Justice reviewed the situation and both declined to pursue what is a federal issue, not a state issue.  D A Bragg is not a federal official.  Not only is this case weak but the D A not having standing on a federal issue is a basis for appeals that will probably be heard before any trial.   

Through some as yet unknown legal gymnastics, Bragg is trying to twist this into a state case.

Trump’s alleged payments are alleged to have been classified under legal fees on business records.  In this case, it’s arguable, that legal fees are a legitimate interpretation of the tax law and the normal – nonpolitical – remedy is to reclassify it and pay any resulting taxes.

A second issue that might be raised by Bragg, that has arisen in the past, is Trump misstating his worth on loan applications.  But no lenders had come forward to join Bragg.  Probably because the lenders do their own evaluations of Trump’s assets and do not rely on his statements, correct or not.  (Remember when you got a mortgage on your house, the bank did its own appraisal.  And you were borrowing a lot less money than Trump.)

It's reported that Trump will be charged with 30 crimes.  This is known in non-legal circles as throwing everything against the wall and desperately hoping that something sticks.

Using government resources to get at a political opponent.

Bragg ran for office on the platform of getting Trump.

Letitia James ran for NY Attorney General on the platform of getting the NRA.

So much for justice being non-political.

Government resources are not supposed to be used for political purposes.  Isn’t that ‘prosecutorial misconduct’?

Since Trump is a legitimate candidate to run for President, doesn’t this qualify as election interference, which is a crime?  Remember all the noise about Russian interference with our elections?  Are Manhattan D A’s exempt from election laws?

No one is above the law (except Democrats)

The FBI Director Comey admitted that Hillary committed campaign finance crimes but he said that no prosecutor would prosecute them.  End of case.

The Biden crime family, and especially Hunter, has been influence peddling for years but the FBI couldn’t find time to check out the computer-from-hell for two years.  A business partner of the Bidens has implicated the family in influence selling.  Nothing to see here. 

What about Joe’s threat, when VP, to withhold funds from Ukraine unless it fired a prosecutor going after Hunter?  Trump was impeached for less.

The Clinton Foundation would seem to be in violation of laws regarding foundations but never prosecuted.

So, in worse cases, the legal system is silent.  Politics involved? Isn’t it selective prosecution / enforcement?

Picking a jury

How do you pick a jury in NY City that is not prejudiced?

 Presumably, anyone who voted for or against Trump will be disqualified and since the NY media is so anti-Trump, how will they get a juror without an existing attitude? They will need a jury of twelve homeless drunks that have spent the last 7 years in a stupor. 

 Even if they could find twelve jurors, seeking to convict a former president for marginal conduct may strike some potential jurors (even ones who dislike Trump personally) as a bridge too far.

Gag Order

Commentators are suggesting that the judge will impose a gag order.  A judge wants to prevent a presidential candidate from speaking about an issue that will affect his campaign!  Forget that pesky 1st Amendment when pursuing leftist goals!

Since we know a lot about this case based on leaks of confidential Grand Jury sessions, which most likely came from the D A’s office, it seems as if the judge should do some investigating of the D A’s office for a crime.  Wouldn’t that be interesting!  Don’t hold your breath.

Other efforts

Knowing that this effort will probably fail, it is being reported that other government bodies are working on cases against Trump.  Some of the leftist media are saying that these other charges are stronger than Bragg’s charges.  That’s a low bar. 

The New York judiciary

Judges at the appeals level are nominated by the governor and approved by the state Senate.  Want to guess how many conservatives sit on the appeals court?

The issue is, if Trump should lose at a prejudiced trial level, he might have to go through two levels of appeals in NY courts dominated by Cuomo and Hochul judges before he gets a fair hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court.  It could take years. 

Would the Left like to see Trump tied up in lawsuits and distracted from running for President?  Does a bear…

Disqualified

I’m sure constitutional scholars will be chiming in on this, but on the face of it, nothing in the Constitution prevents someone convicted of a crime for becoming President.  A President must be impeached to be removed. 

Imagine the confusion and consternation if Trump continues to run – and wins – the presidency while all this, including appeals, is going on.

There is a Supreme Court decision on Representative Adam Clayton Powell that may serve as a precedent.

Whether or not you like Trump, this is a major step toward totalitarianism and must be opposed.  If ever there was a reason for people to stand up to government overreach and its meddling in our elections, this is it.  We the people elect our representatives and the Left should not be allowed to trash this Right along with their efforts to trash our 2nd and 1st Amendment rights.  Be afraid. Be very afraid.