Next Monday, April 15, Donald Trump will report to the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse to stand trial. According to the official summary released this week by Judge Juan Merchan, the case involves allegations that "Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election." Specifically, the case will center around Trump's alleged efforts to conceal "payments…intended to reimburse Michael Cohen for money he paid to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, in the weeks before the presidential election to prevent her from publicly revealing details about a past sexual encounter with Donald Trump." It will be the first time that a former president has been criminally prosecuted.
Have times changed so much that we consider it "so last century" when a candidate steps down from a presidential race because we learn that he cheated on his wife and had an affair [Gary Hart 1972]? Is it now fine with The Washington Post and The New York Times for presidential candidates to cheat on their wives? Do we now think that the Stormy Daniels coverup is old news and therefor boring? Bottom line: does the way Trump treats women as objects for sexual pleasure or disregards them as beling below his standard and thus unworthy of respect as our current national standard?
His view of women affects the way our culture deals with women's issues. Most women are now standing up against this Trumpian position with their votes when it comes to their bodies and abortion rights.
The editorial boards of our most powerful newspapers would be wise to wake up!
Gary Hart was in the 1984 campaign. He lost the nomination to Walter Mondale. Hart was set up. He didn't know the woman in the photo. Total ambush by his enemy.
The problem with the Gary Hart example is that the photo with the young woman was a set-up by his opponents to discredit him. The shame was entirely manufactured by a dirty trick!
Gary Warren Hart is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. He represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1987. Wikipedia
"In a February 16, 2024, piece published by Slate, former federal prosecutor Robert Katzberg called the case "far less significant than the criminality alleged" in other cases ..."
And yet, someone went to prison for these criminal acts. That the crimes pale in comparison to trying to overthrow the election is a meaningless distinction, at least as far as Michael Cohen is concerned.
I didn't realize Bragg was under such a deluge of dismissals, complaints, even mockery for pursuing this case. Like Fani Willis, he persisted against all sorts of currents running against him. Respect.
Why if it was illegal for Michael Cohen why wouldn't it be just as illegal for the guy who paid to have it done. If Trump had paid Cohen to kill someone wouldn't he be libel for murder. Why would the law exonerate the principal actor while locking up the fall guy? Apparently, Trump went to a lot of trouble to hide the payments. He must of thought or known that it was wrong / illegal. Or is this just another case of one law for smocks and another law for the wealthy. Cohen got 3 years for his misdeeds. Trump ought to get 3+ years and no TV, no hair coloring and no mirrors on the wall to preen is wounded ego.
That's a scary point, Tom. It's hard to imagine any jury could be fully vetted given the constant press and level of emotion most people seem to have regarding this guy. The stress of watching all this play out is almost unbearable.
I'm wondering if even acquittal because of one hidden hat would help him much. Conviction is never going to shake the fidelity of the cult. What IS going to happen is a very public exposure of the whole sordid thing. Even if there is an acquittal, that exposure is going to have happened. The people who are "Republican leaning" or actual traditional Republicans are going to have their eyes filled with it. This is particularly true if trump continues his usual antics in the courtroom.
It's a bit like the OJ trial. A jury acquitting him did not really "exonerate" him in the eyes of the public.
A large number of folks thought the "Grab em' by.." tape would end his campaign. Nope. The hard lesson here is some of our own neighbors aren't decent human beings.
As I said, the trial won't shake the ensorcelled. The rest, maybe. I'm not sure the cult is devoid of decent human beings. They are in cognitive dissonance big time and simply can't believe he says this crap even when it is in front of them. But a lot of them would help the right colored, cis neighbor help jump start a car on a cold day, or take care of such neighbors kids in an emergency even if inconvenient. "Decent" has a wide range of qualities.
My youngest brother who lives overseas is ensorcelled by the Orange Crevasse and this 50ish man who says "I can't make it through a book" while marvelling at the thousands of books in my home, rolled his eyes when I tried to give him facts about his hero.
I read more in a day than he does in a year and am informed by numerous sources other than youtube videos, yet somehow I am the brainwashed sheep.
Jeff, so much of this is attributed to right wing monopoly on our major news medias. This will need to be addressed after we re-elect Biden and bring in more Progressives.
While yes the right wing propaganda "news" networks do not tell their viewers or outright lie to them, there is a ton of awful behavior, things said, actions, that people don't need the news in order to see. And that they choose to ignore all of it is what is sad.
The 1% owns most of the MSM and that is why they report as they do. MSM do what they are told to do by the owners. Shaking that up is going to be difficult because of the 1st amendment.
Cathy b, They can be restrained by adding them to laws that exist for radio. If a lie is told that results in harm to someone or others, the license can be pulled, large fines etc.The first Amendment does not cover intentional lies or terroristic threats, both of which are done by these news sources. We keep saying we can’t when we must, while we can. First, we insure Biden is re-elected and continue to put in progressives down ballot. The abortion bans and nutty religious fanaticism is turning many more people off than they realize. Fascism will defeat these options.
Cathy b, That is fascism. What they don’t do is provide proof. It’s an accusation. Their psychotic nuttery is really scary stuff! I’m not saying this is easy, just that we must address it because Dems always gave RescumliCons a pass. Money out of politics can only begin to happen if they can’t reach majority status in Congress.
I think the “polls” and frankly ANY political news is total BS due to the right wing monopoly. A lot of Dems repeat it. If Biden took a different stance against Netanyahu, I would be more confident. Nonetheless, These crazies have attacked LGBTQIA, women, people of color and actually removed rights. We have the numbers and we have to fight off our own fears. (I’ve been stressed out since 2016 but my mind won’t let me imagine that we’ll lose the final election that will be a strong blow to psychopaths ruling us.)
BTW, what did you mean by, “perhaps you should too” ?
I am a faithful listener of NPR. If you click on the link thfar right is once again after them for being federally funded.
This is an example of hoping the far right doesn't have enough power to win.
They sit on the verge of winning. Scares the hell out of me. I am doing everything I can to help get out the vote. I just joined Michelle Obama's campaign to get 1 million new voters registered. If you didn't read the NPR article. Perhaps you should, too. These horrendous right wingers are firing at Democracy from
I love the lines by so called 'legal experts' who are basically saying: "Sure, trump definitely broke the law and continues to break the law, but you can't get him on a case like this. He's too good at crime." - sorry what? If it broke the law, throw it in prison.
Only guilty people fight to stay out of court. He’s lived his corrupt life thinking he’s a mafia don and untouchable, he could have continued criming his way untouched until he pulled off the greatest con job of becoming president and robbing the citizens of money to raise the deficit by 7 trillion. The money he charged USSS to rent golf carts and rooms at his roach and bedbug infested gaudy golf clubs, the charges to use those clubs every weekend for events, use of the Air Force and AF1 to fly back and forth to his Mara Lardo. I think George Conway tracked the costs and by early 2020 it was 118 million. I think if he’d had the chance he’d have robbed the treasury to pay off his loans. It’s past his jail time as Jimmy Kimmel said, him and his entire corrupt grifting family needs to be remanded to Gitmo for the rest of their lives for the destruction to our democracy they’ve done. Oh BTW I hear he hates summers and fall in Florida so Gitmo would be so fitting while he sweeps sand from his cell, no internet, no McDonald’s, no golf and if any of his insurrectionists boats for Trump try to breach Gitmo they’ll be a nice bunch of army men with big guns waiting.
I love your expressive writing, Charlie. But you didn't use all of Uncle Steve's talking points. I'll have to report you. Better watch your back, cuz your own kind will get you when you're not looking.
Accept defeat, Charlie. The majority are against you. And isn't it sweet that the arch-conservative Alito & Company will be recognized as the precipitate cause of widespread Republican losses in November. Just another case of the inveterate stupidity of Republican politicians. They always put themselves in a circular firing squad. What a hoot! Did you get your check yet? I told Steve to wire it directly from the Kremlin to your bank account. But he's very disappointed that you left out his best talking points. I'll have him resend them to you. Hope to see you at the picnic on Sunday at Steve's.
My guess is they will find him guilty, although I doubt he will see any jail time or pay any fines as he probably has the option to appeal it until the cows come home.
The time to have brought these charges would have been during his presidential run or after he entered office, as the federal government had the legal obligation to do so... despite the confusion that would have ensued.
Compared to the chaos created during his presidency and all the damages to the country and the world, the lawsuit back then would have seemed a 6 month flash in the pan and we wouldn't be where we are today...and where we have found ourselves over the last 8 years. They didn't seem to have any issue with trashing Hillary's campaign?
Lest we forget all the gov't. shutdowns, lost time and effort of Congress being distracted from the nations business the last 8 years, corporate malfeasance, Corporate tax giveaway, Covid disaster, Ukraine, Gaza, THE INSURRECTION, (yeah that's kind of a biggy I would think, deserving of capitalization) along with double digit criminal indictments...Why is this man still wandering around please? Really...I am seriously looking for the answers...anyone?
If I am correct, he has 30+ felony indictments and 80+ criminal charges pending (or not pending) so I guess that's not too many. I think that might be a record for the Guinness book?
And unlike any other US citizen, hasn't spent a night in jail, or been deported, and/or been found to be mentally incompetent to be a public official and inadequate to hold office, despite the fact that he thought a good way to change the direction of a hurricane would be to explode a nuclear weapon to divert its path? Please people...this is the former President of these United States!
If Trump is found guilty of anything with jail time, he will never serve a Sentence in a cell. As a former president, he is entitles to a Secrete Service detail. The logistics of a prison/ Secret Service Protection detail are a nonstarter.
I love how in your telling of the story, David Pecker takes a stand against paying another woman for a catch and kill story. Oh, Mr. Pecker must be a principled guy! He is as dirty as the bottom of my shoes. And his manipulation of his news stories during the 2016 campaigns is disgraceful.
Here's a task for you, Judd: make a list of the terrible things ALL candidates except Dump, got into while they were still running for president - according to David Pecker. Love child? Orgy photos? Embezzlement? Secret chronic illnesses? Et cetera.
Then, let's open the 30-year old trove of secrets Pecker has on Dump. Fun!!!
It's never the deed, but the cover up! Michael Cohen and Weisselberg both went to jail for the then president's game of deceit. I don't look for a trial to begin soon, as the sham lawyers will pull every trick in the book to delay - their go-to tactics on ALL 88 indictments against the Don! I keep hoping this house of cards falls down soon, and Trump is trumped by the LAW!
Think where we are. Mainstream media like WaPo, and distinguished Fordham law professors, opining that this particular criminal case against a former president of the United States isn't all that "compelling" compared to the others. Talk about normalizing.
I appreciate your writings/opinions so very much. I like to share them, but when there is an image of the great Orange one, I refrain. (Petty? Yes, I know.)
It would be wonderful if you could provide images that are pertinent to your articles without using TFG's image.
I'm safe. I can stomach his ridiculous image but I get set off by the sound of the bastard's voice. I can read a piece like this without fear of hearing him.
Have times changed so much that we consider it "so last century" when a candidate steps down from a presidential race because we learn that he cheated on his wife and had an affair [Gary Hart 1972]? Is it now fine with The Washington Post and The New York Times for presidential candidates to cheat on their wives? Do we now think that the Stormy Daniels coverup is old news and therefor boring? Bottom line: does the way Trump treats women as objects for sexual pleasure or disregards them as beling below his standard and thus unworthy of respect as our current national standard?
His view of women affects the way our culture deals with women's issues. Most women are now standing up against this Trumpian position with their votes when it comes to their bodies and abortion rights.
The editorial boards of our most powerful newspapers would be wise to wake up!
Women are not valued, clearly, in this country anymore. At least, not by Republicans. They are under direct attack instead.
Gary Hart was in the 1984 campaign. He lost the nomination to Walter Mondale. Hart was set up. He didn't know the woman in the photo. Total ambush by his enemy.
I remember the distinct smell of shame when Gary was caught out.
Aerosmith has a song entitled "No More, No More." That about sums it up.
The problem with the Gary Hart example is that the photo with the young woman was a set-up by his opponents to discredit him. The shame was entirely manufactured by a dirty trick!
You know you are correct Neal. But the man still stepped down. We have come a long way in what appears to be the wrong direction.
1972? Nah...1988.
Yep. To wit:
Gary Warren Hart is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. He represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1987. Wikipedia
Brava!
Bill Clinton
"In a February 16, 2024, piece published by Slate, former federal prosecutor Robert Katzberg called the case "far less significant than the criminality alleged" in other cases ..."
And yet, someone went to prison for these criminal acts. That the crimes pale in comparison to trying to overthrow the election is a meaningless distinction, at least as far as Michael Cohen is concerned.
I didn't realize Bragg was under such a deluge of dismissals, complaints, even mockery for pursuing this case. Like Fani Willis, he persisted against all sorts of currents running against him. Respect.
Excellent point.
Why if it was illegal for Michael Cohen why wouldn't it be just as illegal for the guy who paid to have it done. If Trump had paid Cohen to kill someone wouldn't he be libel for murder. Why would the law exonerate the principal actor while locking up the fall guy? Apparently, Trump went to a lot of trouble to hide the payments. He must of thought or known that it was wrong / illegal. Or is this just another case of one law for smocks and another law for the wealthy. Cohen got 3 years for his misdeeds. Trump ought to get 3+ years and no TV, no hair coloring and no mirrors on the wall to preen is wounded ego.
Thank you for this clear and compelling summary of Bragg's case, Judd. Let's hope that justice will be done.
And here we are.
If this happened to someone other than tRUMP, would we be waiting some 7+ years for this outcome?
Excellent Judd:
The test to start will be jury selection.
Will one or more jurors ‘leave their MAGA hat in the car’ as happened with the Manafort juror? We’ll see.
That's a scary point, Tom. It's hard to imagine any jury could be fully vetted given the constant press and level of emotion most people seem to have regarding this guy. The stress of watching all this play out is almost unbearable.
I'm wondering if even acquittal because of one hidden hat would help him much. Conviction is never going to shake the fidelity of the cult. What IS going to happen is a very public exposure of the whole sordid thing. Even if there is an acquittal, that exposure is going to have happened. The people who are "Republican leaning" or actual traditional Republicans are going to have their eyes filled with it. This is particularly true if trump continues his usual antics in the courtroom.
It's a bit like the OJ trial. A jury acquitting him did not really "exonerate" him in the eyes of the public.
A large number of folks thought the "Grab em' by.." tape would end his campaign. Nope. The hard lesson here is some of our own neighbors aren't decent human beings.
As I said, the trial won't shake the ensorcelled. The rest, maybe. I'm not sure the cult is devoid of decent human beings. They are in cognitive dissonance big time and simply can't believe he says this crap even when it is in front of them. But a lot of them would help the right colored, cis neighbor help jump start a car on a cold day, or take care of such neighbors kids in an emergency even if inconvenient. "Decent" has a wide range of qualities.
Ensorcelled. What an appropriate word.
My youngest brother who lives overseas is ensorcelled by the Orange Crevasse and this 50ish man who says "I can't make it through a book" while marvelling at the thousands of books in my home, rolled his eyes when I tried to give him facts about his hero.
I read more in a day than he does in a year and am informed by numerous sources other than youtube videos, yet somehow I am the brainwashed sheep.
Ensorcelled indeed!
Excellent! Needed exposure!
That such a large number of people worship this piece of garbage is baffling and sad.
Jeff, so much of this is attributed to right wing monopoly on our major news medias. This will need to be addressed after we re-elect Biden and bring in more Progressives.
While yes the right wing propaganda "news" networks do not tell their viewers or outright lie to them, there is a ton of awful behavior, things said, actions, that people don't need the news in order to see. And that they choose to ignore all of it is what is sad.
Not sad, just pathetic and disgusting.
And fucking criminal!!!
The 1% owns most of the MSM and that is why they report as they do. MSM do what they are told to do by the owners. Shaking that up is going to be difficult because of the 1st amendment.
Cathy b, They can be restrained by adding them to laws that exist for radio. If a lie is told that results in harm to someone or others, the license can be pulled, large fines etc.The first Amendment does not cover intentional lies or terroristic threats, both of which are done by these news sources. We keep saying we can’t when we must, while we can. First, we insure Biden is re-elected and continue to put in progressives down ballot. The abortion bans and nutty religious fanaticism is turning many more people off than they realize. Fascism will defeat these options.
Just read this. Perhaps you should, too
https://www.aol.com/npr-faces-wing-revolt-calls-104502693.html
The far right will stop only when they don't own so much of the media.
750 million dollars later from the Dominion lawsuit, Fox still spews
Cathy b, That is fascism. What they don’t do is provide proof. It’s an accusation. Their psychotic nuttery is really scary stuff! I’m not saying this is easy, just that we must address it because Dems always gave RescumliCons a pass. Money out of politics can only begin to happen if they can’t reach majority status in Congress.
I think the “polls” and frankly ANY political news is total BS due to the right wing monopoly. A lot of Dems repeat it. If Biden took a different stance against Netanyahu, I would be more confident. Nonetheless, These crazies have attacked LGBTQIA, women, people of color and actually removed rights. We have the numbers and we have to fight off our own fears. (I’ve been stressed out since 2016 but my mind won’t let me imagine that we’ll lose the final election that will be a strong blow to psychopaths ruling us.)
BTW, what did you mean by, “perhaps you should too” ?
I am a faithful listener of NPR. If you click on the link thfar right is once again after them for being federally funded.
This is an example of hoping the far right doesn't have enough power to win.
They sit on the verge of winning. Scares the hell out of me. I am doing everything I can to help get out the vote. I just joined Michelle Obama's campaign to get 1 million new voters registered. If you didn't read the NPR article. Perhaps you should, too. These horrendous right wingers are firing at Democracy from
every angle. Do what you can to stop them. I am.
I love the lines by so called 'legal experts' who are basically saying: "Sure, trump definitely broke the law and continues to break the law, but you can't get him on a case like this. He's too good at crime." - sorry what? If it broke the law, throw it in prison.
Only guilty people fight to stay out of court. He’s lived his corrupt life thinking he’s a mafia don and untouchable, he could have continued criming his way untouched until he pulled off the greatest con job of becoming president and robbing the citizens of money to raise the deficit by 7 trillion. The money he charged USSS to rent golf carts and rooms at his roach and bedbug infested gaudy golf clubs, the charges to use those clubs every weekend for events, use of the Air Force and AF1 to fly back and forth to his Mara Lardo. I think George Conway tracked the costs and by early 2020 it was 118 million. I think if he’d had the chance he’d have robbed the treasury to pay off his loans. It’s past his jail time as Jimmy Kimmel said, him and his entire corrupt grifting family needs to be remanded to Gitmo for the rest of their lives for the destruction to our democracy they’ve done. Oh BTW I hear he hates summers and fall in Florida so Gitmo would be so fitting while he sweeps sand from his cell, no internet, no McDonald’s, no golf and if any of his insurrectionists boats for Trump try to breach Gitmo they’ll be a nice bunch of army men with big guns waiting.
Well said, Rusty. I think he's warming up his jet to flee to Saudi Arabia soon. Betchya.
We should be so lucky. Maybe the MAGAites will all move with him.
Your name-calling is impressive. Too bad the MAGAites as bad as they are can't hole a candle to all you dipshit progressive liberal sheep.
I love your expressive writing, Charlie. But you didn't use all of Uncle Steve's talking points. I'll have to report you. Better watch your back, cuz your own kind will get you when you're not looking.
oh James you are such an important human being. What would we do without you!
Accept defeat, Charlie. The majority are against you. And isn't it sweet that the arch-conservative Alito & Company will be recognized as the precipitate cause of widespread Republican losses in November. Just another case of the inveterate stupidity of Republican politicians. They always put themselves in a circular firing squad. What a hoot! Did you get your check yet? I told Steve to wire it directly from the Kremlin to your bank account. But he's very disappointed that you left out his best talking points. I'll have him resend them to you. Hope to see you at the picnic on Sunday at Steve's.
PS: "can't hole a candle to all you dipshit progressive liberal sheep."
You some kind of pervert? How do you "hole a candle?" Sheesh, ya bloody freak.
It's a typo, you dumbfuck!
See how weak and pathetic you are? You eat Meow-Mix for breakfast doncha?
Or Russia since Jared is making deals on land over there.
My guess is they will find him guilty, although I doubt he will see any jail time or pay any fines as he probably has the option to appeal it until the cows come home.
The time to have brought these charges would have been during his presidential run or after he entered office, as the federal government had the legal obligation to do so... despite the confusion that would have ensued.
Compared to the chaos created during his presidency and all the damages to the country and the world, the lawsuit back then would have seemed a 6 month flash in the pan and we wouldn't be where we are today...and where we have found ourselves over the last 8 years. They didn't seem to have any issue with trashing Hillary's campaign?
Lest we forget all the gov't. shutdowns, lost time and effort of Congress being distracted from the nations business the last 8 years, corporate malfeasance, Corporate tax giveaway, Covid disaster, Ukraine, Gaza, THE INSURRECTION, (yeah that's kind of a biggy I would think, deserving of capitalization) along with double digit criminal indictments...Why is this man still wandering around please? Really...I am seriously looking for the answers...anyone?
If I am correct, he has 30+ felony indictments and 80+ criminal charges pending (or not pending) so I guess that's not too many. I think that might be a record for the Guinness book?
And unlike any other US citizen, hasn't spent a night in jail, or been deported, and/or been found to be mentally incompetent to be a public official and inadequate to hold office, despite the fact that he thought a good way to change the direction of a hurricane would be to explode a nuclear weapon to divert its path? Please people...this is the former President of these United States!
Yeah that's normal and reasonably intelligent?
If Trump is found guilty of anything with jail time, he will never serve a Sentence in a cell. As a former president, he is entitles to a Secrete Service detail. The logistics of a prison/ Secret Service Protection detail are a nonstarter.
I don’t think so. trump will simply have to be isolated from other inmates; eat and exercise ( ha ha) alone. Let him rot in jail.
Great clear article that nicely lays out the facts. Thank you.
I love how in your telling of the story, David Pecker takes a stand against paying another woman for a catch and kill story. Oh, Mr. Pecker must be a principled guy! He is as dirty as the bottom of my shoes. And his manipulation of his news stories during the 2016 campaigns is disgraceful.
Here's a task for you, Judd: make a list of the terrible things ALL candidates except Dump, got into while they were still running for president - according to David Pecker. Love child? Orgy photos? Embezzlement? Secret chronic illnesses? Et cetera.
Then, let's open the 30-year old trove of secrets Pecker has on Dump. Fun!!!
It's never the deed, but the cover up! Michael Cohen and Weisselberg both went to jail for the then president's game of deceit. I don't look for a trial to begin soon, as the sham lawyers will pull every trick in the book to delay - their go-to tactics on ALL 88 indictments against the Don! I keep hoping this house of cards falls down soon, and Trump is trumped by the LAW!
They always get the mob bosses on taxes. Well, there's a gold mine for T'rump indictments. Have they forgotten about that?
Think where we are. Mainstream media like WaPo, and distinguished Fordham law professors, opining that this particular criminal case against a former president of the United States isn't all that "compelling" compared to the others. Talk about normalizing.
NOTHING compares to trumpolini’s crimes. NOTHING AND NO ONE! To compare him to anyone else is to normalize a psychotic, deluded, seditionist, rapist.
I appreciate your writings/opinions so very much. I like to share them, but when there is an image of the great Orange one, I refrain. (Petty? Yes, I know.)
It would be wonderful if you could provide images that are pertinent to your articles without using TFG's image.
I'm safe. I can stomach his ridiculous image but I get set off by the sound of the bastard's voice. I can read a piece like this without fear of hearing him.
His voice is beyond fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Image, voice...pretty much anything associated with him...
Unfortunately for me, I read his words in his voice in my head.
His pen was mightier than his sword.