“That SOB (wording deliberately changed for polite company) got what he deserved. I hope he gets sentenced and rots in prison. I voted Republican since Reagan but I would never vote for that a**hole or his Party again.”
Anonymous Republican voter
“If he’s a Republican I’ll sign, we have to stop the Democrats from stealing elections.”
Anonymous Republican voter
These were two responses I heard when door knocking for signatures this past weekend. That “someone” was of course Trump and the comment was in reaction to a single event (a non-disclosure agreement charged in court as a predicate for an alleged larger campaign violation – election interference) broken into 34 felony convictions (one for every payment disbursement) handed down in Manhattan last week. Never before has a former American president been indicted for a crime committed before being elected…. or at all. This event places the United States in the same prestigious league as Brazil, Venezuela, Russia, China and India (Trump verdict puts US among infamous countries that prosecuted opposition leaders: Who else is on the list? | Fox News). The purpose of this paper is an attempt to explain at a high level, the events, facts and implications of what the Democrats have unleashed in our body politics.
The Background and Charges
In 2006 private citizen Donald Trump was alleged to have had a one-night, extra-marital sexual encounter with Stephane Clifford (aka Stormy Daniels). The alleged event was consensual. In 2011 a magazine learned of the alleged event and paid her $15,000 for the story. In October 2016 after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, she asked her agent to seek out a buyer for her story. It was at this time that Michael Cohen (an attorney representing Trump) offered her a payment to enter into a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to keep the story private. She agreed to the arrangement, signed the NDA and received payment (Here is what Stormy Daniels testified happened between her and Trump – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com). At that time and still, legal.
According to New York law the statute of limitations for misdemeanors is 2 years and for felonies, 5 years (excluding violent crime and rape). This means that the timeline for this event (non-violent misdemeanor) expired in October 2018. There is a loophole in this law (regarding the definition of residence in New York state) that District Attorney Alvin Bragg exploited to combine the NDA payment with his allegation that the payment was part of a larger conspiracy to commit election fraud ahead of the 2016 presidential election. This combined charge (payment made to suppress a damaging story to influence a presidential election) moved this from a misdemeanor to a felony indictment (Has the Statute of Limitations Run Out on the Stormy Daniels Payment? Depends How You Count | Opinion – Newsweek).
Venue
The case was filed in Manhattan. Manhattan is in New York county in the state of New York. The politics in New York leans heavily Democratic and in New York county even more so. A review of various election results of President, U.S. Senate and Governor since 2000 is listed below:
This was the political environment that the jury pool was picked from.
The Presiding Judge
The presiding judge for the case was the Honorable New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan. Honorable is the title for a judge. Judge Merchan has been described as levelheaded, no-nonsense and impartial (Who is Juan Merchan, the ‘no-nonsense’ judge who oversaw Trump’s hush-money case? (bbc.com). Previously Judge Merchan has and will hear cases involving former associates of President Trump (former Trump corporation Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg and in September will hear a case against former Trump advisor Steve Bannon).
Judge Merchan has also made political contributions to liberal organizations ($10.00 to “Progressive Turnout Project” and “Stop Republicans” as well as a $15.00 Donation to the Joe Biden campaign). His daughter is a current employee of Authentic Campaigns, a firm that works on digital fundraising for Democratic clients including Joe Biden and Adam Schiff. On its surface, this appears to be a self-evident conflict of interest issue as it regards the Trump case. This was pointed out by the Trump defense team however Judge Merchan refused to recuse himself from the case.
Jury Instructions
At the conclusion of the Trump case, Judge Merchan issued a lengthy set of instructions to the jury. While most of these instructions were anodyne (i.e. don’t discuss the case outside of the courtroom, don’t consider the potential punishment, set aside personal differences, don’t decide on the basis of biases and stereotypes) there were some that were controversial (the jury doesn’t have to be unanimous in what crime was committed -federal campaign violation, tax violation or record falsification-) so long as they consider him guilty of some act presented during the trial.
Verdict and Beyond
The jury took two days to find Trump guilty. The sentencing phase of the trial will take place in early July, approximately two weeks before the Republican convention. The punishment could include jail time, home confinement or a combination of the two. After the sentencing phase is complete the Trump defense will issue an appeal. The appeal process in usual cases could take years to work its way through the legal system.
Opinion
While I haven’t gone into detail on the individual testimonies, the myriad of charges brought (I focused on the highest level issues) or the character of the individual witnesses, this case is a dangerous precedent setting novelty that opens up a pandora’s box of future indictments that can only lead to the destruction of public confidence in both our judicial and legal systems. The underlying facts are sordid. An alleged single evening tryst in 2006, that led to an alledged cover-up to protect a campaign or to keep a private matter, private. The fact that the allegations were previously reviewed by federal prosecutors who declined to issue charges due to lack of solid evidence or the fact that if this was a crime, it was a federal level crime (to influence a national election) but charged in a state level court.
The other facts to consider were that the defense was not allowed to present a complete case (key witnesses were not allowed to testify for the defense at the discretion of a conflicted judge) or that the case itself was tried in one of the most ideologically polarized counties in one of the most ideologically polarized states should give even the most rabid partisan’s pause.
The final question has to be why did this happen and to what end does this serve. Hate or love President Trump, we have never tried an ex Chief Executive. There have been concerted efforts to damage candidates (that is the raw nature of politics) both before and during campaigns, but to my knowledge we as a nation have never gone to court to deliberately try to disqualify someone on what are in essence flimsy and specious charges. Yes, illegally interfering prior to an election is serious and worthy of investigation (a crime) and needs to be investigated. If this investigation uncovers serious issues, then prosecution is not only warranted but needs to occur. With that being said, where does the Steele Dossier, the Hunter Biden laptop controversy or the covered-up Tara Reid sexual allegations against President Biden fit into this newly inaugurated legal theory era? All these events occurred before an election and all of these events can be interpreted as illegally interfering in an electoral outcome.
It is not hyperbole to state that we have passed a major milestone in American politics. A terrible and dangerous precedent has been set and to what end? To keep one man from being elected?
The Democrats have forever stained themselves. Even the most politically naïve voter must now know that they are the party that wants to destroy democracy. Who will ever vote for a Democrat again?
The Trump trial was on the same plane as the Soviet Show Trials of the 1930s, the Chinese trials during the Cultural Revolution, and the trials held in various third-world banana republics of former rulers whom the new regimes wanted to destroy and disqualify. If we allow this type of action to become the norm, the American Republic will be lost.
