Breaking News on Trump’s Arraignment, Potential Prison Term

Home of News, Politics & Opinion M Dowling – March 31, 2023

A source told Fox News that Donald Trump’s arraignment will be on Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. in Judge Merchan’s courtroom on the 15th floor at 100 Centre Street in New York City. He will surrender without handcuffs.

If convicted of these misdemeanor charges that Soros DA Alvin Bragg decided are felonies, Donald Trump could face four years in prison.  NBC News states that the Judge could put a gag order in place. The judge for the arraignment is Judge Merchan, who presided over other ‘get Trump’ cases, such as the one against Mr. Weisselberg.

THE POTENTIAL 34 PAPERWORK CHARGES

Mike Pomerantz, the former Manhattan prosecutor who resigned wrote a book tearing Donald Trump apart. He found ’45’ “disgusting.” NBC News quoted him in their report:

But here’s what we do know: Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 just days before the 2016 election. In Cohen’s version of events, this was done at the direction of his boss because Daniels was on the cusp of going public about an affair she alleges she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump, while he was in the White House, reimbursed Cohen, but has consistently denied the affair. But the payment of the hush money, by itself, wouldn’t be the crime.

A paperwork crime:

In this case, the possible crime is how the payments were documented on the books of the Trump Organization.

According to Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor who worked closely on the case and recently published a book about his experience, Cohen submitted phony invoices throughout 2017 referencing a “retainer agreement” and requesting payment. Then Cohen received a series of checks, hand-signed by Trump while he was in the White House. The legal problem is there was no retainer agreement — according to Pomerantz, it was all done to cover up the hush money scheme. The fake documentation of “legal expenses” on the Trump Organization’s books could trigger a charge under New York state law, which makes falsifying business records a crime.

Normally, the false business records charge would be a misdemeanor. In order to elevate it to a felony, the defendant needs to have created the fake records with an intent to commit or conceal “another crime.” We don’t yet know what the Manhattan district attorney’s office may argue is the second crime.

Just using Pomerantz and Cohen for an article is biased.

When Cyrus Vance tried to make the hush money into a crime, he failed. The Southern District of New York couldn’t find a crime. Stormy Daniels lost her civil lawsuit and owes Donald Trump over $300,000. Alvin Bragg himself dismissed the case last year because he said there wasn’t enough evidence.

The case is beyond the statute of limitations. So far, Donald Trump has been denied due process, attorney-client privilege, and executive privilege. Will he now be denied the right to have the case rejected because it is beyond the statute of limitations?

Law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, New York Police Department, FBI, New York State court officers, and the DA’s office, will meet Friday afternoon to finalize details about the logistics and security of Trump’s arrest, reports Fox News.