Comments on Trump’s Felony Conviction in New York.

As most of you are aware, former president Donald Trump was convicted last month on 34 felony counts arising from hush-money payments to an adult film star. Trump will be formally sentenced for these crimes on July 11, 2024, at which time his legal team will  file an appeal.  The appeal process will take months, if not years, and well after the 2024 presidential election is decided.
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It would be nice if we could all take a collective deep breath and let the case work its way through the legal system. But alas, that is not to be. Trump’s felony conviction has become a major campaign issue for both Democrats and Republicans. To Trump and his allies the case against him was a politically motivated witch hunt, culminating in a sham trial to discredit him in the run-up to the November election. To those who are less inclined to take Trump’s point of view, the conviction is proof that the system of justice works and that no one is above the law.

             Alvin Bragg

          Merrick Garland

                                                  Jim Jordan

​There have been a lot of issues raised about the legitimacy of the trial. Was it a political “hit job” or was justice served?  Let’s examine some of the issues raised to see if they have any validity:

The Biden Administration has Weaponized the Justice Department to Attack Trump: In a news conference after his conviction, Trump accused President Biden of orchestrating the “sham trial” and using the Department of Justice (DOJ) to go after him. There is no evidence that President Biden or anyone in his administration, including the DOJ, had anything to do with the criminal case against Trump in New York. The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a state court where the federal government has no jurisdiction.  

Earlier this month Attorney General Merrick Garland testified under oath before the House Judiciary Committee to answer claims that the DOJ had influenced the trial in New York. To this and other questions put to him by committee members, Garland stated, “The Manhattan District Attorney has jurisdiction over cases involving New York state law, completely independent of the Justice Department.” He went on to say that the Justice Department did not control the Manhattan District Attorney, has no contact with him and he is free to make decisions regarding New York state law.

Alvin Bragg will appear before the House Judiciary Committee next month to answer questions about the hush-money trial. House Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has accused Bragg of conducting a “political prosecution” of Donald Trump. Jordan is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters in Congress and will use his position to attack anyone who dares to cross Trump.   

The Trial was Timed to Interfere with the Election: The investigation into Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office started several years before he announced plans to run for president in 2024. The investigation began in 2018 by Alvin Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr.

Alvin Bragg became Manhattan District Attorney at the beginning of 2022 and continued the investigation into the hush-money payments, leading to a grand jury indictment of Trump in March 2023. Trump announced his decision to run for president in November 2022, well into the investigation of hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and others. In all likelihood Trump announced his decision to run for president this early in order to shield himself against mounting legal troubles.    

​Trump has Repeatedly Claimed “There is no Crime”: Trump was tried and convicted in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records, which are typically misdemeanors. Under New York law misdemeanors have a two-year statute of limitations. By the time the Manhattan District Attorney indicted Trump, the statute of limitations would have prevented an indictment based on misdemeanor charges alone. But the indictment brought against Trump was for 34 felony counts, not misdemeanors, extending the statute of limitations to over five years (COVID disruptions extended the statute of limitations for felony cases even further).    

The key to the case against Trump was the ability under New York law for a misdemeanor to be raised to a felony if it was done to commit or conceal another crime.  As spelled out in the indictment, the business records were falsified “with the intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.” The indictment also revealed that the other crimes included violating state election laws and income tax laws.

It is true that the falsification of business records case would not have been brought against Trump if the crimes could not have been bumped up to felonies. It is also true that Trump would not have been convicted if the jury had not unanimously agreed that state election laws had been violated.

The evidence provided at court by the prosecution to prove that Trump and his organization falsified business records was indisputable. Furthermore, all twelve jurors were convinced that the business records were falsified to shield Trump from negative publicity during his 2016 presidential campaign. This is a clear violation of Section 17-152 of the New York state law. 

​Judge Merchan was Corrupt and Partisan: Trump has repeatedly called presiding Judge Juan Merchan “crooked”, “corrupt” and “highly conflicted”. There is simply no evidence to back up Trump’s assertions about the judge. The partisan claims against the judge are flimsy at best. In 2020 Juan Merchan donated a total of $35 to Democrat groups, including a $15 donation to the Biden campaign.
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Trump’s legal team tried to get Judge Merchan removed from the case because of his daughter Loren’s work with Democrat groups. Loren Merchan served as president of a digital campaign strategy agency which did work on Biden’s 2020 campaign and other Democrat causes. The New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics reviewed the conflict-of-interest charges brought against Judge Merchan and found none.

If Judge Merchan was recused from the Trump case because of activities engaged in by his daughter, how about other prominent judges whose case work often draws suspicion due to the activities of spouses or relatives. The activities of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginni come to mind. Ginni Thomas is a longtime conservative and was active in the “Stop the Steal” campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. You do not get more partisan than that, yet Clarence Thomas has not recused himself from cases before the Supreme Court involving Trump. 

​Republican Reactions to Trump’s Guilty Verdict: Not surprisingly the Republicans have circled the wagons around their likely presidential nominee. If you want to stay in Trump’s good graces you publicly denounce the verdict a gross miscarriage of justice brought about by a partisan district attorney, presided over by a partisan judge in a jurisdiction that was biased against him. Furthermore, the investigation and trial were directed by the White House in order to interfere with the presidential election.

Trump surrogates such as House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senator Marco Rubio and other potential vice president candidates were tripping over themselves to get in line to denounce the guilty verdict. “A purely political exercise, not a legal one” according to Speaker Johnson. Even that stalwart of law-and-order Florida Governor Ron DeSantis compared the criminal proceedings in New York to a “kangaroo court”. 

​This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party, and he doesn’t tolerate any disloyalty, just ask former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. Hogan is a Republican running for the open Senate seat in Maryland who had the audacity to urge all Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process”. The reply from the Trump campaign to Mr. Hogan was swift and to the point, “You just ended your campaign.” I guess that politics trumps principles in today’s Republican Party.

​We may never know if Trump’s guilty verdict will have a decisive impact on the presidential race. But we do know that in the short term it has energized Trump’s base and has been a funding raising bonanza. If Democrats use the verdict to bludgeon Trump it could backfire. On the other hand, if Trump uses it at every campaign stop to prove his victimhood, issues important to American voters could get ignored.

If the New York conviction shows anything, it is that Donald Trump is guilty of hubris and greed. Paying out “hush-money” to prevent embarrassing information from becoming public is not a crime. Falsifying business records to hide those payments is a crime. If Trump had simply made the payments from his personal funds, there would have been no crime.

Trump will appear before Judge Merchan on July 11, 2024, for his sentencing hearing. He has not done himself any favors by berating the judge every chance he gets. Even so, it is highly unlikely that Trump will be sentenced to serve any jail time. More likely he will be sentenced to probation, a fine, community service, or a combination of these.

The felony conviction of a former president is no reason to celebrate. It is a dark chapter in America’s history. It is time to reflect on the state of the partisan divide in our country and on the future of our democracy.

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Thanks,
Armchair American