Rebuilding Rob

As a city of 8.3 million people, one would think that New York City has seen it all. But yesterday, New York played host to an event that has never happened in American history. Yesterday, Donald Trump became the first ex-president to go to trial for crimes he allegedly committed.

Obviously people are very polarized in their views in Trump. He has a lot of dedicated followers. Likewise, he has an equal about of detractors. I fall into the latter category. Having said that, I’m going to keep my Trump tirades out of this post, and just sit to the facts of the matter.

HERE is a great CNBC article that really breaks down the criminal charges against Trump. The whole story stems from a tryst that Trump allegedly had with adult film star Stormy Daniels. I deal with me between Trump and Daniels in which Daniels would receive a $130,000 payment to keep quiet about the affair, just before the 2016 presidential election. These actions alone could be considered a violation of election laws.

But the actual criminal charges at play here pertain to the manner in which Trump allegedly had payments made to Daniels. The DA claims that Trump falsified records in his own business, in order not only make the payments, but also to conceal the fact that they were used for said hush money. In all Trump is charged with counts of falsifying business records in this matter.

This try will be a little bit different than some of the other, high profile trials of our time. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, nor audio recordings. The only information we’re going to get on this trial will be from firsthand witnesses, and the old-school courtroom sketches. 

As I was putting this post together earlier today, I found myself doing research on the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to Richard Nixon resigning from the presidency. early on in the scandal, there were a few attempts to impeach Nixon in Congress that ultimately fell apart. But once additional evidence became available, including the infamous “smoking gun “tape, the narrative suggests that Nixon chose to resign rather than face impeachment and an inevitable conviction in Congress.

Obviously, this is a different situation. I’d like the charges stemming from the January 6 insurrection, the crimes alleged in the money he charges occurred before Trump was president. Not that that should really matter in either case. Presidents are not above the law, despite with Trump would like the rest of us to believe.

From an unbiased viewpoint, this appears to be an open and shut case. Trump and his corporation Riddle fake business filings in order to hide the hush money payments. Michael Cohen is expected to be the prosecution star witness confirming all of this. of course, with a jury trial, all it takes is one person to decide that the accused is not guilty. Convictions must be unanimous. Even then, it becomes a question of whether or not, he would see actual jail time. This case seems to be the one that would probably have the greatest effect on the 2024 election, since the other cases against Trump don’t appear to start anytime for the next several months, which would take him past the election.

Interesting times indeed…

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The article “45 goes to trial” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.