Bragg's Bungled Case: Report Exposes Flaws in Trump Indictment

Flopping Aces ^ | 07-09-24 | Curt

[Starman417]

A report titled "Lawfare: How the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and a New York State Judge Violated the Constitutional and Legal Rights of President Donald J. Trump." was put together by the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government today. It's a deep dive into the 34-count criminal indictment against Trump, announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg back in April 2023. The charges? Allegedly, Trump fiddled with New York business records to hide a federal crime, turning misdemeanors into felonies. This all ties back to payments made by Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels in 2017.

In the report they argue that even if Trump did fiddle with his bookkeeping, the transactions happened in 2017. That’s a full year after the 2016 election, so how could they have influenced it? Secondly, there’s a big question mark over whether Bragg even has the authority to enforce federal campaign finance laws.

The Judiciary Committee decided to get involved, demanding answers from Mark Pomerantz, a former Special Assistant District Attorney who was neck-deep in the investigation. After some initial pushback, Pomerantz finally showed up for a deposition on May 12, 2023. The Committee’s interim findings, released on April 25, 2024, pretty much concluded that the prosecution was politically motivated and that Bragg’s actions set a dangerous precedent for future politically driven prosecutions.

The report goes into great detail about the legal and procedural mess in Bragg’s prosecution of Trump. One major issue is Bragg’s "Russian-nesting-doll" theory of criminal liability. This unprecedented approach allowed the jury to convict Trump without agreeing on each element of the offenses charged, which is a big no-no when it comes to due process.

Bragg also stepped on some federal toes by pursuing charges related to federal campaign finance violations. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioner Trey Trainor, Congress gave exclusive jurisdiction over these laws to federal authorities. Bragg’s actions? A clear overreach.

And let’s not forget Judge Juan Merchan’s role in this circus. The report slams him for failing to recuse himself despite clear political bias, slapping an unconstitutional gag order on Trump, and letting in some pretty prejudicial testimony. The jury instructions were a hot mess too, allowing for a non-unanimous verdict on the underlying crimes, which is a big deal in legal land.

[Glad2bnuts]

There was NO reason to have Stormy testify, nothing to do with financial dealings. It was prejudicial in the extreme.

[TiGuy22]

In the spirit of Dingy Harry Reid, “we got him convicted, didn’t we?”.

[heartwood]

I suppose Bragg could make the argument that Trump agreed in 2016 to pay in 2017, but did he make the argument and prove it?

Daniels was paid in 2016 so that was influencing the election (oh no) and the other illegal act was the falsely recorded payments in 2017 . Two misdemeanors beget a felony.

[FamiliarFace]

I still can’t get over anyone believing one word of Stephanie Clifford’s testimony. How Trump’s team didn’t rip her words completely apart is beyond me. Maybe Merchan didn’t allow them to grill her over her details?

She blacked out when she saw him in his boxers? A porn star? Really?

He didn’t use a condom? With a porn star? A known germaphobe? Really?

I could go on and on, but I’m sure y’all get the picture.

The fact is, he never had sex with her. Her story is totally unbelievable. Fabricated. She was blackmailing his campaign. She could’ve come forward while he had his Apprentice shows. She didn’t.

It’s all so ridiculous.

[Georgia Girl 2]

These cases were not designed to convict and jail Trump. They were designed to wake up the public. They were all always going to go away.

[A Navy Vet]

"There was NO reason to have Stormy testify, nothing to do with financial dealings."

What about the defamation lawsuit Stormy lost to Trump and still owes millions? That alone should have disqualified her as a credible witness in this bogus book-keeping charge by Bragg. Cohen did some legal work for Trump, and the payments to Cohen were legally entered under "legal" on the Profit&Loss statements. I've owned and operated 3 small companies and I know how to read a P&L. There was nothing nefarious about said entry.

The elephant in the room is that the IRS and DHS concluded no crimes committed and no charges pressed. Butthead Bragg and his (biased Jury instructor) Judge Merchan went back years to find some little known law or process to turn possible misdemeanors into felonies. The kicker is even those misdemeanors are beyond the Statutes of Limitations last I read.

Now that Trump is allowed an appeal, this will be thrown out along with the guilty verdicts. I also believe none of the criminal suits against Trump will survive, especially the documents case now that the USSC has judge certain official activities are immune.

[lepton]

So what label should the log entries have had, per Bragg?

[Verginius Rufus]

There was no justification for having Stormy Daniels testify, but it did what it was supposed to do--get millions of people to believe that Trump had sex with her. The idea was to damage his reputation and lose him votes.

Bragg never informed Trump what the felonies were he was being tried for...and after the jury verdict we are still in the dark. That is a clear violation of the Bill of Rights.

Also, it has been said that Bragg failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to the grand jury, which he was not allowed to do.

[sauropod]

.

[gnickgnack2]

The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
Song by XTC (1992)

Let’s begin!
Peter Pumpkinhead came to town
Spreading wisdom and cash around
Fed the starving and housed the poor
Showed the Vatican what gold’s for

But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Oh, my!

Peter Pumpkinhead pulled them all
Emptied churches and shopping malls
Where he spoke, it would raise the roof
Peter Pumpkinhead told the truth
But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin (hooray!)
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Oh, my!

Peter Pumpkinhead put to shame
Governments who would slur his name
Plots and sex scandals failed outright
Peter merely said, “Any kind of love is all alright”

But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?

Peter Pumpkinhead was too good
Had him nailed to a chunk of wood
He died grinning on live TV
Hanging there, he looked a lot like you
And an awful lot like me

But he made too many enemies
Of the people who would keep us on our knees
Hooray for Peter Pumpkin
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkinhead?
Ah, hooray for Peter Pumpkin (hooray!)
Who’ll pray for Peter Pumpkin?
Hooray for Peter Pumpkinhead
Oh, my, oh, my, a-don’t it make you wanna cry-oh?

I sing The Ballad of Donald Trumpkinhead!

[Glad2bnuts]

When you are right, you are RIGHT. You write like I talk when Libtard family starts in on me. IDK what it is, but I can deal out facts and even dates clear back to Clinton on politics. I can’t remember my grandkids birthdays though...lol

[Glad2bnuts]

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