Trump found guilty on all 34 counts

Honest question. I imagine this stuff happens all the time to politicians/celebrities i.e paying people off to keep them quiet. How is this supposed to be done legally? Who was the victim of these 34 felonies?

 

It is illegal to do it to help yourself get elected. That's the difference between Trump doing it and JLo or Kim Kardashian doing it.

 

So no politician has ever paid anyone to keep quiet before? Or do they just not get caught? Or do they instead just promise them a cush position in their administration?

I just assumed this stuff happens/happened all the time. The crime I believe he was found guilty of was essentially providing false business records in order to make this payment so not to hurt his reputation.

Let's be honest at this point it doesn't really matter about his reputation. He is apparently going to have his support anyway. Remember he can shoot someone in New York and get away with it or something...

I'm just wondering who the victims were. Like was there a tax avoidance issue due to it being a business?

 

Take it up with those who wrote the laws and legislated them onto the books.

 

This always comes to mind.

 

There are more than one set of victims. This story was quashed right as it was about to hit the news after the Access Hollywood tape. The tape was played off as "locker room talk." Having this affair and his others hit right on the heels of the tape could have swung the election. That's why it was illegal to "hush" the story.

The second problem is that it was not a legal expense as it was recorded. It was by definition a campaign contribution that exceeded the legal dollar limit for such. Therefore it was business fraud. Also, a campaign contribution of that type would have had to have been publicly disclosed which could have been pursued by the press.

Lastly, regarding this whole stupid "victim" trope that the right has engaged to defend Trump, if a state trooper gives you a ticket for going 110 mph on an empty interstate highway, feel free to go before a judge and say it was a victimless crime because you didn't crash into anyone at high speed and see where that gets you.

 

I don't understand this part. Trump gave his attorney a campaign contribution that exceeded the dollar limit? This is where I'm getting confused I guess.

It's my understanding that Trump gave Cohen the 130k to give to to Daniels. He did so by saying it was legal expenses when it clearly wasn't.

I guess my question is this. Hypothetically if Trump gave Daniels money from his personal checking account to keep her from talking then he would still be found guilty of trying to influence an election?

 

John Edwards did, and he got caught and was prosecuted in North Carolina. I don't remember the details, but I think the jury couldn't reach a verdict, leading to a mistrial.

 

the taxpayers when he claimed it as a business expense
the voters when they lost access to relevant information. Paying or otherwise conspiring to conceal relevant information is against the law in NY and other jurisdictions

 

yes. it is against the law to conspire to hide information from the voting public to influence an election

 

So was there a tax avoidance issue? I have not heard that.

 

Well this is awkward.

Full list of countries that restrict visits from felons

1. Argentina
2. Australia
3. Brazil
4. Cambodia
5. Canada
6. Chile
7. China
8. Cuba
9. Dominican Republic
10. Egypt
11. Ethiopia
12. Hong Kong
13. India
14. Indonesia
15. Iran
16. Ireland
17. Israel
18. Japan
19. Kenya
20. Malaysia
21. Macau
22. Mexico
23. Morocco
24. Nepal
25. New Zealand
26. Peru
27. Philippines
28. Singapore
29. South Africa
30. South Korea
31. Taiwan
32. Tanzania
33. Tunisia
34. Turkey
35. Ukraine
36. United Arab Emirates
37. United Kingdom

 

Not convicted, but it still ended his political career.

 

And, arguably, the voters of New York (amongst other places) who were deprived of the information when voting.

 

It should also be against the law for the public to hide from information.

 

The key part to me is that Edwards was prosecuted. From that point, it's up to the evidence and the jury for a conviction.

 

“If I’m a felon, and many in my circle are felons it’s reasonable to think I’m shady and involved in business that’s not legal”

(Watch first 60 secs).

 

Imagine this would be pretty difficult to prove in court but not all hard to believe that Trump and Trump world would engage in paying witnesses for their loyalty:

 

Here's one of Trump's own former attorneys undercutting the claim that Biden had anything to do with the Manhattan charges.