These are truly amazing times. Former President Donald Trump was indicted Thursday by a grand jury in New York State. The Indictment that was handed up supposedly contains 34 counts. Given who we know has testified, the grand jury was empaneled to explore whether moneys paid to the beloved entertainer Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair she had with Trump ran afoul of New York’s business record laws and by extension Federal campaign funding laws.
The State’s theory, as I understand it, is that Donald Trump, then running for President against Hillary Clinton in a tight race, funneled money through the Trump Organization to his then lawyer Micheal Cohen to repay Cohen for fronting the hush money to Daniels. The payments to Cohen were carried on the Trump Organization’s books as legal fees paid to him. This mischaracterization on the books is allegedly a colorable violation of the said business laws. The other theory, which has caused commentators on both sides of the spectrum to scratch their heads, is that payments to Stormy were made so that they would not become an issue in the campaign, thus making them an illegal campaign contribution that was never disclosed until after the election.
Trump, for his part, denies that he carried on with Stormy. Which he really needs to do seeing as how his wife Melania had recently given birth to their son Barron. Not only was such alleged horsing around on his part during this time unseemly in the extreme, there is the part to keep in mind about Hell having no such fury and all that.
He just thinks two other grand juries getting up his hindquarters with flashlights are his problem after Stormy takes the stand. Which I assume she will do. He better have an iron clad “pre-nup.” If there is such a thing under these tawdry circumstances.
I know a lot of people who are delighted by this turn of events, by the indictment. The emotions seem to run the gamut between plain old schadenfreude and a feeling of “He’s finally getting his just rewards” and that “Justice is being served.”
Just like lawyers everywhere, lay people have been asking me what I think. As an attorney and officer of the court, I feel compelled to throw cold water on any expressions of jubilance that I hear. Here’s why.
Like it or not, Donald Trump is entitled to the same presumption of innocence as you and I. Secondly, I have no particular problem with believing that Trump and his associates cooked up a way to get money to Stormy in exchange for her silence. What guilty spouse wouldn’t try to keep this safely under the rug if he or she could? If that’s a violation of NY record keeping laws so be it. What I’m less comfortable with is viewing this scheme and device (as the Indictment will undoubtedly say) as a violation of Federal campaign finance laws.
Why is this important? Because while the Statute of Limitations for the campaign laws stuff is 10 years, the state charges only carry a 2 year SOL. Accordingly, if there’s no violation of Federal law, the case goes away. You can bet that the lawyers for both sides have researched this issue to a fare-the-well. We shall see what we shall see.
So let’s not get carried away just yet. If ever.
Secondly, should the State get around the Motion to Dismiss that will most assuredly be filed, trial of this matter will be an absolute nightmare. There will be protests and counter-protests. Courtroom security will be Uber-jumpy. The poor jurors will most certainly have to be sequestered for their own protection. And if a guilty verdict is returned you can expect riots in the streets.
This will be a terrible experience for our country and I do not look forward to it. Trump has summoned the mob once. He will do it again. If he hasn’t done so already.
And yet, and yet, the rule of law must prevail. Guilty or not guilty the process must play out with out fear or favor and without intimidation.
I will undoubtedly write more about this, apart from the attempted insurrection on January 6, 2021, being the most seminal event of my life. And there may be more to come out of Georgia and DC.
What an amazing time.
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Since writing the above post Little Rock was hit by a monster tornado last Friday afternoon. Tornadoes around here are nothing new, God knows. But usually they are small and hop around. This SOB was more like a hurricane in that it was huge and stayed on the land for a straight line from Little Rock to the delta.
Our house and surrounding neighborhood are fine even though the damn thing crossed the river about two miles from us. Way too close for comfort.
Much of west Little Rock looks like a bomb went off. No telling how long it will take to restore power, remove debris and return folks to some semblance of normalcy. So far, the death toll seems remarkably small. So far.
The Deacon and I are beyond lucky and are likewise grateful. And we are equally grateful that none of our people died or have suffered grievous injury. At least not that we know of.
Please keep those who were not so fortunate in your thoughts and prayers.
