Hush money trial - or ... business records trial -- just the facts please

[BobRyan]

Nov 2016 the vote was cast for the Presidential term that started in 2017​

from: Hush money, catch and kill and more: A guide to unique terms used at Trump’s New York criminal trial ​

FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS​

"DEFINITION: This is the criminal charge that’s being decided at Trump’s New York trial. He is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree​

​

"Three payments that prosecutors say were made on Trump’s behalf to bury marital infidelity claims during his 2016 presidential campaign. They are the National Enquirer’s $30,000 payment (Jan 2016) to a Trump Tower doorman and $150,000 payment (August 2016) to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and the $130,000 that Trump’s then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen arranged to pay porn actor Stormy Daniels.​

​

​

"Paying hush money isn’t illegal on its own, but authorities say the payments made to suppress stories about Trump amounted to illegal campaign contributions.​

​

==================== end quote​

​

==================== next the 150,000 payment​

​

from: Ex-Playboy model settles lawsuit over alleged Trump affair​

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Published 8:23 PM EDT, (Wednesday) April 18, 2018​

"LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with President Donald Trump settled her lawsuit Wednesday with a supermarket tabloid over an agreement that prohibited her from discussing the relationship publicly.​

Karen McDougal’s settlement with the company that owns the National Enquirer “restores to me the rights to my life story and frees me from this contract ...​

​

"In August 2016, the tabloid’s parent company, American Media Inc., paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about the alleged relationship, but the story never ran.​

​

"Last month (March 2018), McDougal filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles asking to invalidate the contract, which she said she was misled into signing. The suit alleged that the company didn’t publish the story because AMI’s owner, David Pecker, is “close personal friends” with Trump. It also charged that Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, had inappropriately intervened and was secretly involved in discussions ..."​

​

"with AMI executives about the agreement.​

​

...​

"Under the settlement agreement, McDougal can keep the $150,000 she was paid and AMI has the rights to up to $75,000 for any future profits from her story about the relationship.​

​

"AMI had argued McDougal had been allowed to speak about her relationship since 2016 and the contract gave the company discretion over whether to publish the story.​

==================== next the 30,000 payment

from: $30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip

By JAKE PEARSON and JEFF HORWITZ Published 4:23 PM EDT, (Thursday) April 12, 2018

"NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before (Jan 2016) the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate (August 2016) who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid’s parent made a $30,000 payment to... a former doorman at one of the real estate mogul’s New York City buildings.​

"As it did with the ex-Playmate, the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public​

==================== Next the 130,000 payment stormy was supposed to pay back

Company offers to drop Stormy Daniels' hush-money agreement

The company set up by Donald Trump's former personal attorney is offering to rescind Stormy Daniels' hush-money agreement and drop its planned $20 million lawsuit against the porn actress for violating the agreement.

apnews.com

"An attorney for Essential Consultants said the company wants Daniels to repay the $130,000 she was paid as part of the nondisclosure agreement, which was signed days before the 2016 presidential election, according to a letter included in a Friday night court filing.​

==========================end quote

Wanted Daniels to repay 130k??

In any case, all of this is about "incorrect business records" (which is not legal, possibly misdemeanor, like jaywalking) not about "paying hush money" (which the article says is not illegal)

So then when is jaywalking a felony? Answer: "when one is jaywalking in order to rob a bank".
IN other words - all the "talk" was supposed to be about how problems with business records - was on the way to "robbing bank" and would mean that they should be pushing the crime of "robbing the bank" and not the crime of hush money or incorrect bank records.

So where has all the "Robbing the bank" sort of news been all this time??

Seems to be conspicuously absent.

 

[BobRyan]

So what ARE the felonies? the crimes? the charges?
(curious that THIS detail is sooo not-at-the-top of this news item.!!

from: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/30/g-s1-1848/trump-hush-money-trial-34-counts

1	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust	Feb. 14, 2017
2	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, bearing voucher number 842457	Feb. 14, 2017
3	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, bearing voucher number 842460	Feb. 14, 2017
4	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Account, bearing check number 000138	Feb. 14, 2017
5	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust	March 16, 2017
6	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, bearing voucher number 846907	March 17, 2017
7	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Account, bearing check number 000147	March 17, 2017
8	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	April 13, 2017
9	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 858770	June 19, 2017
10	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002740	June 19, 2017
11	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	May 22, 2017
12	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 855331	May 22, 2017
13	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002700	May 23, 2017
14	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	June 16, 2017
15	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 858772	June 19, 2017
16	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002741	June 19, 2017
17	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	July 11, 2017
18	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 861096	July 11, 2017
19	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002781	July 11, 2017
20	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	Aug. 1, 2017
21	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 863641	Aug. 1, 2017
22	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002821	Aug. 1, 2017
23	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	Sept. 11, 2017
24	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 868174	Sept. 11, 2017
25	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002908	Sept. 12, 2017
26	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	Oct. 18, 2017
27	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 872654	Oct. 18, 2017
28	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002944	Oct. 18, 2017
29	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	Nov. 20, 2017
30	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 876511	Nov. 20, 2017
31	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 002980	Nov. 21, 2017
32	Guilty	Invoice from Michael Cohen, marked as a record of Donald J. Trump	Dec. 1, 2017
33	Guilty	Entry in the Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump, bearing voucher number 877785	Dec. 1, 2017
34	Guilty	Check and check stub, Donald J. Trump account, bearing check number 003006	Dec. 5, 2017

So a lot of "Donald Trump revocable trust" elements in that list of 34.

IS it a political campaign fund/account? Was it under Donald Trump's control while he was president?

Trump's Revised Trust Certification, Annotated

The revised summary of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust has numerous changes. We’ve outlined them.

projects.propublica.org

 

[Pommer]

Nov 2016 the vote was cast for the Presidential term that started in 2017​

from: Hush money, catch and kill and more: A guide to unique terms used at Trump’s New York criminal trial ​

FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS​

"DEFINITION: This is the criminal charge that’s being decided at Trump’s New York trial. He is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree​

​

"Three payments that prosecutors say were made on Trump’s behalf to bury marital infidelity claims during his 2016 presidential campaign. They are the National Enquirer’s $30,000 payment (Jan 2016) to a Trump Tower doorman and $150,000 payment (August 2016) to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and the $130,000 that Trump’s then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen arranged to pay porn actor Stormy Daniels.​

​

​

"Paying hush money isn’t illegal on its own, but authorities say the payments made to suppress stories about Trump amounted to illegal campaign contributions.​

​

==================== end quote​

​

==================== next the 150,000 payment​

​

from: Ex-Playboy model settles lawsuit over alleged Trump affair​

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Published 8:23 PM EDT, (Wednesday) April 18, 2018​

"LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with President Donald Trump settled her lawsuit Wednesday with a supermarket tabloid over an agreement that prohibited her from discussing the relationship publicly.​

Karen McDougal’s settlement with the company that owns the National Enquirer “restores to me the rights to my life story and frees me from this contract ...​

​

"In August 2016, the tabloid’s parent company, American Media Inc., paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about the alleged relationship, but the story never ran.​

​

"Last month (March 2018), McDougal filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles asking to invalidate the contract, which she said she was misled into signing. The suit alleged that the company didn’t publish the story because AMI’s owner, David Pecker, is “close personal friends” with Trump. It also charged that Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, had inappropriately intervened and was secretly involved in discussions ..."​

​

"with AMI executives about the agreement.​

​

...​

"Under the settlement agreement, McDougal can keep the $150,000 she was paid and AMI has the rights to up to $75,000 for any future profits from her story about the relationship.​

​

"AMI had argued McDougal had been allowed to speak about her relationship since 2016 and the contract gave the company discretion over whether to publish the story.​

==================== next the 30,000 payment

from: $30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip

By JAKE PEARSON and JEFF HORWITZ Published 4:23 PM EDT, (Thursday) April 12, 2018

"NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before (Jan 2016) the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate (August 2016) who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid’s parent made a $30,000 payment to... a former doorman at one of the real estate mogul’s New York City buildings.​

"As it did with the ex-Playmate, the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public​

==================== Next the 130,000 payment stormy was supposed to pay back

Company offers to drop Stormy Daniels' hush-money agreement

The company set up by Donald Trump's former personal attorney is offering to rescind Stormy Daniels' hush-money agreement and drop its planned $20 million lawsuit against the porn actress for violating the agreement.

apnews.com

"An attorney for Essential Consultants said the company wants Daniels to repay the $130,000 she was paid as part of the nondisclosure agreement, which was signed days before the 2016 presidential election, according to a letter included in a Friday night court filing.​

==========================end quote

Wanted Daniels to repay 130k??

In any case, all of this is about "incorrect business records" (which is not legal, possibly misdemeanor, like jaywalking) not about "paying hush money" (which the article says is not illegal)

So then when is jaywalking a felony? Answer: "when one is jaywalking in order to rob a bank".
IN other words - all the "talk" was supposed to be about how problems with business records - was on the way to "robbing bank" and would mean that they should be pushing the crime of "robbing the bank" and not the crime of hush money or incorrect bank records.

So where has all the "Robbing the bank" sort of news been all this time??

Seems to be conspicuously absent.

The “bank robber” went to jail (Cohen) for the campaign-finance violation.

 

[BobRyan]

Now they wish to stop a Presidential election from going through with that sort of new york event. But a lot of Americans will want to ask "a few questions" just then.

 

[BobRyan]

The “bank robber” went to jail (Cohen) for the campaign-finance violation.

Then one of those 34 charges should have been "campaign-finance violation" -- in fact the exact thing that Cohen was charged with.

1. Which of the 34 charges is about someone making a payment to Donald Trump's campaign fund?
2. Which of the 34 charges is about his campaign fund making a payment to someone?
3. Which of the 34 charges is not just a business record misdemeanor charge?

or are they saying that it is a crime to be a lawyer for Donald Trump during a campaign season or just before one - if anything you do benefits your client??

 

[Belk]

Now they wish to stop a Presidential election from going through with that sort of new york event. But a lot of Americans will want to ask "a few questions" just then.

How does this stop the election?

 

[Paulos23]

Now they wish to stop a Presidential election from going through with that sort of new york event. But a lot of Americans will want to ask "a few questions" just then.

People may wish it, but it does not legally stop him from running for President.

 

[HTacianas]

Nov 2016 the vote was cast for the Presidential term that started in 2017​

from: Hush money, catch and kill and more: A guide to unique terms used at Trump’s New York criminal trial ​

FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS​

"DEFINITION: This is the criminal charge that’s being decided at Trump’s New York trial. He is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree​

​

"Three payments that prosecutors say were made on Trump’s behalf to bury marital infidelity claims during his 2016 presidential campaign. They are the National Enquirer’s $30,000 payment (Jan 2016) to a Trump Tower doorman and $150,000 payment (August 2016) to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and the $130,000 that Trump’s then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen arranged to pay porn actor Stormy Daniels.​

​

​

"Paying hush money isn’t illegal on its own, but authorities say the payments made to suppress stories about Trump amounted to illegal campaign contributions.​

​

==================== end quote​

​

==================== next the 150,000 payment​

​

from: Ex-Playboy model settles lawsuit over alleged Trump affair​

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Published 8:23 PM EDT, (Wednesday) April 18, 2018​

"LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with President Donald Trump settled her lawsuit Wednesday with a supermarket tabloid over an agreement that prohibited her from discussing the relationship publicly.​

Karen McDougal’s settlement with the company that owns the National Enquirer “restores to me the rights to my life story and frees me from this contract ...​

​

"In August 2016, the tabloid’s parent company, American Media Inc., paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story about the alleged relationship, but the story never ran.​

​

"Last month (March 2018), McDougal filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles asking to invalidate the contract, which she said she was misled into signing. The suit alleged that the company didn’t publish the story because AMI’s owner, David Pecker, is “close personal friends” with Trump. It also charged that Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, had inappropriately intervened and was secretly involved in discussions ..."​

​

"with AMI executives about the agreement.​

​

...​

"Under the settlement agreement, McDougal can keep the $150,000 she was paid and AMI has the rights to up to $75,000 for any future profits from her story about the relationship.​

​

"AMI had argued McDougal had been allowed to speak about her relationship since 2016 and the contract gave the company discretion over whether to publish the story.​

==================== next the 30,000 payment

from: $30,000 rumor? Tabloid paid for, spiked, salacious Trump tip

By JAKE PEARSON and JEFF HORWITZ Published 4:23 PM EDT, (Thursday) April 12, 2018

"NEW YORK (AP) — Eight months before (Jan 2016) the company that owns the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to a former Playboy Playmate (August 2016) who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, the tabloid’s parent made a $30,000 payment to... a former doorman at one of the real estate mogul’s New York City buildings.​

"As it did with the ex-Playmate, the Enquirer signed the ex-doorman to a contract that effectively prevented him from going public​

==================== Next the 130,000 payment stormy was supposed to pay back

Company offers to drop Stormy Daniels' hush-money agreement

The company set up by Donald Trump's former personal attorney is offering to rescind Stormy Daniels' hush-money agreement and drop its planned $20 million lawsuit against the porn actress for violating the agreement.

apnews.com

"An attorney for Essential Consultants said the company wants Daniels to repay the $130,000 she was paid as part of the nondisclosure agreement, which was signed days before the 2016 presidential election, according to a letter included in a Friday night court filing.​

==========================end quote

Wanted Daniels to repay 130k??

In any case, all of this is about "incorrect business records" (which is not legal, possibly misdemeanor, like jaywalking) not about "paying hush money" (which the article says is not illegal)

So then when is jaywalking a felony? Answer: "when one is jaywalking in order to rob a bank".
IN other words - all the "talk" was supposed to be about how problems with business records - was on the way to "robbing bank" and would mean that they should be pushing the crime of "robbing the bank" and not the crime of hush money or incorrect bank records.

So where has all the "Robbing the bank" sort of news been all this time??

Seems to be conspicuously absent.

In most circles that's called extortion. But hey. Trump was the victim so no one gets prosecuted.

 

[BobRyan]

In most circles that's called extortion. But hey. Trump was the victim so no one gets prosecuted.

good point. I guess they did not want to deal with that particular violation of the law in the two-tiered system they are using.

 

[FenderTL5]

In most circles that's called extortion. But hey. Trump was the victim so no one gets prosecuted.

It wouldn't be extortion in a catch & kill scenario because the transaction is being initiated by those doing the catching and killing.
Trump is no victim, unless he's a victim of his own scheme.

 

[Pommer]

Then one of those 34 charges should have been "campaign-finance violation" -- in fact the exact thing that Cohen was charged with.

1. Which of the 34 charges is about someone making a payment to Donald Trump's campaign fund?
2. Which of the 34 charges is about his campaign fund making a payment to someone?
3. Which of the 34 charges is not just a business record misdemeanor charge?

or are they saying that it is a crime to be a lawyer for Donald Trump during a campaign season or just before one - if anything you do benefits your client??

Cohen pled guilty.
The indictments alleged that Mister Trump had the records falsified to hide the repayment of what Mister Cohen had pleaded guilty to.

 

[KCfromNC]

How does this stop the election?

It's just an attempt to shift the blame away from GOP primary voters. They picked the guy knowing full well how much his legal (and other) issues would make him a hard sell to the general public. Now the narrative has shifted to claiming the facts are making it more difficult for him to be elected rather than placing blame on picking a weak candidate (again) where it belongs.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Then one of those 34 charges should have been "campaign-finance violation"

Not necessary.

The charges in the first degree apply because these false invoices and payments were falsified in order to disguise "another crime". A crime we already know happened.

Rather than bank robbing, the analogy I've been thinking about is buying drugs.

Michael Cohen buys $130,000 of illicit narcotics with his own money and gives it all to Donald Trump. (Just as Trump is the ultimate beneficiary of the NDA.)

Donald Trump could write a check for $130,000 and put "Repayment for the illicit narcotics" in the memo section. But that might expose the commission of a crime.

Instead, to disguise that crime, he falsifies documents to make the payments be about fictitious legal services that were never performed.

 

[Postvieww]

It's just an attempt to shift the blame away from GOP primary voters. They picked the guy knowing full well how much his legal (and other) issues would make him a hard sell to the general public. Now the narrative has shifted to claiming the facts are making it more difficult for him to be elected rather than placing blame on picking a weak candidate (again) where it belongs.

Who is this general public? Trump is leading in most poles. Why would you call the front runner a weak candidate?

 

[Postvieww]

The charges in the first degree apply because these false invoices and payments were falsified in order to disguise "another crime". A crime we already know happened.

If you already known another crime happened you should be able to tell us what it was and point it out in the charges against him and the counts this kangaroo court convicted him of.

 

[iluvatar5150]

If you already known another crime happened you should be able to tell us what it was and point it out in the charges against him and the counts this kangaroo court convicted him of.

Is somebody in right wing media pushing this claim, that nobody knew what the “other crimes” were? Because there are several of you guys (at least 5, IIRC) parroting the same argument over and over, and it just isn’t true. The prosecution announced what those other crimes were and the judge limited them to the ones they announced two months ahead of the trial.

 

[Postvieww]

Is somebody in right wing media pushing this claim, that nobody knew what the “other crimes” were? Because there are several of you guys (at least 5, IIRC) parroting the same argument over and over, and it just isn’t true. The prosecution announced what those other crimes were and the judge limited them to the ones they announced two months ahead of the trial.

What were they?

From Politifact:

• On May 29, Juan Merchan, the judge in former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial, gave the jury instructions for their deliberation, which are posted online.
• He told jurors that to find Trump guilty, they must agree unanimously on two things: that Trump falsified business records and that he did so intending to commit a separate crime.
• Merchan said jurors did not have to agree unanimously on what the separate crime was that Trump intended to commit.

Really??? They had to be unanimous on a guilty verdict but could disagree on the reason for that verdict??????

 

[iluvatar5150]

What were they?

Before I answer that question (which I will), tell me - have you actually tried to answer that question for yourself? Have you googled something like “trump hush money case charges”? Have you read the wikipedia page for it? Have you searched for the various court documents, such as the jury instructions that your politifact quote mentions?

All of this stuff is out there - I’ve posted it in other threads. It strikes me that a lot of you guys are just repeating stuff without doing the slightest bit of digging for yourselves.

From Politifact:

• On May 29, Juan Merchan, the judge in former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan trial, gave the jury instructions for their deliberation, which are posted online.
• He told jurors that to find Trump guilty, they must agree unanimously on two things: that Trump falsified business records and that he did so intending to commit a separate crime.
• Merchan said jurors did not have to agree unanimously on what the separate crime was that Trump intended to commit.

Really??? They had to be unanimous on a guilty verdict but could disagree on the reason for that verdict??????

To combine some of the previous analogies: let’s say our jaywalker was crossing the street to rob a bank so that he could have money to go buy drugs. Either robbing the bank or buying drugs is sufficient to upgrade the jaywalking charge to a felony. The judge tells the jury that, since either once is enough on its own, any one is okay.

 

[essentialsaltes]

and point it out in the charges against him

No, we do not.

NY does not have 6 thousand laws that say

2457823-2357.0001 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of murder.
2457823-2357.0002 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of rape.
2457823-2357.0003 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of mopery.
2457823-2357.0004 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of jaywalking.
2457823-2357.0005 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the wearing sandals with socks.
...

The law says "another crime".

So that's what I'm pointing to in the charges against him. There it is.

--

What was the point of David Pecker's testimony? He was involved in the Susan MacDougal payoff. Nothing to do with Stormy Daniels.

The point was that Pecker became aware that the MacDougal payoff would be considered an illegal campaign contribution. And he refused to commit this crime for a second time (in the case of Stormy Daniels). And Cohen and Trump knew that, and knew that it would be criminal. Nevertheless, they persisted in committing that crime, and these business documents were falsified to conceal its commission.

 

[Postvieww]

No, we do not.

NY does not have 6 thousand laws that say

2457823-2357.0001 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of murder.
2457823-2357.0002 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of rape.
2457823-2357.0003 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of mopery.
2457823-2357.0004 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the commission of jaywalking.
2457823-2357.0005 : Falsifying business documents in order to aid or conceal the wearing sandals with socks.
...

The law says "another crime".

So that's what I'm pointing to in the charges against him. There it is.

It's all smoke and mirrors if you were falsify business documents to conceals "another crime" and were facing possible life in prison would it not be at least common sense to know what that crime was you were trying to conceal? This is why the jury was given multiple choice options on another crime, that WAS NOT CHARGED! this is all legal mumbo jumbo and why leading legal scholars still don't know what Trump was actually convicted of. Whitout that "other crime" these 34 felonies are just a hit job. Let's have a little intellectual honesty on this topic! What was the other crime? Not multiple choice , no fuzzy law what was it? If he was convicted of another crime this is all fuzzy law designed to GET Trump just like Bragg campaigned on.

--

What was the point of David Pecker's testimony? He was involved in the Susan MacDougal payoff. Nothing to do with Stormy Daniels.

The point was that Pecker became aware that the MacDougal payoff would be considered an illegal campaign contribution.

Not considered an illegal campaign contributions by the feds , they pasted on it. The legal expert on Federal campaign finance law was restricted in the testimony he could give by the crooked judge so the actual law could no be defined for the jury, except what Merchan wanted them to know.

And he refused to commit this crime for a second time (in the case of Stormy Daniels). And Cohen and Trump knew that, and knew that it would be criminal. Nevertheless, they persisted in committing that crime, and these business documents were falsified to conceal its commission.

False!