I read through the indictment, which is posted here:
https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-Indictment.pdf
CAUTION: This document does NOT look like the real document, since there are no dates and other items that should be there. But since it is the only one I've seen, I will go with it.
- There are 34 counts (i.e. 34 alleged violations of law).
- They are all related to "keeping accurate business records" by the Trump Organization.
- You and I are not subject to the State snooping through our records just for fun, but if you form a corporation or other "creature of the State," then you agree to having its books and records inspected at anytime. So, they are claiming that the Trump Organization did not keep accurate records, and further alleging that it was done to hide some crime.
- Each of these records are in 3 forms: invoices from attorney Michael Cohen, checks paid out based on these invoices, and ledger entries on the books and records of the Trump Organization related to these invoices and checks.
- They were events that occurred between February 2017 and December of 2017.
- Trump was POTUS during that time, and Eric Trump or the CEO of the Trump Organization would most likely have been handling these invoices and payments, not Donald Trump (although the indictment does not give any detail on that).
- All 34 counts are for violations of New York Penal Law 175.10, "Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree."
- In order to be in the "first degree," there must be a violation of NY Penal Law 175.05, "Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree," which means it must be (a) false and (b) done with intent to defraud, AND (c) to be in the First Degree, it must have been in order to hide some other crime.
https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._penal_law_section_175.10
https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._penal_law_section_175.05
The indictment does not allege any facts that would indicate what "other crime" was being committed or hidden, nor does it allege what "intent to defraud" was.
It looks like a very sloppy, amateurish work on the DA's part. But maybe that's just how sloppy law is practiced in New York. I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.
These laws all fall under the general category of fraud. I have heard that these charges are beyond the statute of limitations, which I have heard is 2 years in New York.
However, this chart indicates that for fraud it is 6 years:
https://nycourts.gov/CourtHelp/GoingToCourt/SOLchart.shtml
It also says misdemeanors are 2 years and "other felonies" (not those listed) are 5 years.
So, 2 years and 5 years are already over. If it is 6 years, then the February and March 2017 charges are already past the statute of limitations.
So ...
They are going to claim that Trump was the head of the Trump Organization in 2017, directing its actions even though he was in the White House, and that the Trump Organization falsely stated what Michael Cohen's invoices were for and what the payments were for and that the ledger entries were falisified to defraud ... who? That is an element that would have to be proven (along with proving that Trump was directing it all).
WHO was defrauded? What evidence is there? Stormy Daniels says there was no affair to cover up. So, the public could not be harmed (not that real American law recognized such a nonsense in the first place). No individuals were harmed, even if it were fraud, and there is no evidence that there was any fraud.
Then, they would have to prove it was all done to cover up some other crime which is NOT alleged in the indictment. That seems like a BIG problem, since if the prosecution does not inform the defendant on what the full extent of the charges are, then it is impossible to defend.
The rumor has been they will allege he was doing it all to hide an affair during a presidential election -- which is federal jurisidiction, not State jurisdiction -- but that is just a RUMOR. It is NOT stated in the indictment (if this document is the real copy of the indictment).
The entire thing looks like a monkey running a kangaroo court.
Would this fly in an American court? Never.
But would it fly in a corrupt New York court? Maybe.
I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here because you're not looking at the DA's Statement of Facts which is a document that always accompanies an indictment to help with the case. It explains in great detail (13 pages) all of the questions you are asking.
If you just read the indictment it will look sloppy, because that's how indictments are written, they are supposed to be succinct and only include the charges, the Statement of Fact goes over all of the reasoning behind the charges, you can find it here: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23741892/donald-j-trump-sof.pdf
For the SoL, because Trump was not able to be prosecuted during his four years in office, the SoL is paused. There is some basic precedent for that.
Also, the part about Trump directing the actions of the Trump Organization is pretty clear - at least what they say in here - he physically signed more than 50 checks during 2017 that were for the TO, so that indicated his actions as leading and he hadn't signed over the TO to Eric.
The crime and fraud that is being covered up is very clear in the documents: "From August 2015 to December 2017, the Defendant orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects. In order to execute the unlawful scheme, the participants violated election laws and made and caused false entries in the business records of various entities in New York.
The participants also took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme. 3. One component of this scheme was that, at the Defendant’s request, a lawyer who then worked for the Trump Organization as Special Counsel to Defendant (“Lawyer A”), covertly paid $130,000 to an adult film actress shortly before the election to prevent her from publicizing a sexual encounter with the Defendant.
Lawyer A made the $130,000 payment through a shell corporation he set up and funded at a bank in Manhattan. This payment was illegal, and Lawyer A has since pleaded guilty to making an illegal campaign contribution and 1 served time in prison. Further, false entries were made in New York business records to effectuate this payment, separate and apart from the New York business records used to conceal the payment."
Again, I think this is all bullshit, but I want to be factual here and make sure that we are looking at the big picture, I've seen a lot of pundits on TV just reading the indictment and saying there is nothing there. That's like reading the cover of a book and saying there is no real content.
So - please give us a logical defense. You said SoL was paused, so using that defense is out. Do you explain that the 'encounter' never occurred? How do you dismiss cohen's claim when he actually went to prison for that 'lie'. (Cohen's was also to do with malarkey with the taxi medallion, I realize.) Give us some logical holes to look for in the coming discussions.
Lastly - I would look really, really hard at whoever put those checks in front of DJT to sign after the transfer date. His transfer of the TO to Eric was so public that even me on my couch in rural America knew when and why it happened. Surely, everybody in TO knew when/why it happened and those checks should never have been set in front of DJT. Unless some operative was already in the org. Companies are not that lackadaisical about these types of things. Especially the accounting and legal drones in large organizations.
I'd look twice at that transfer, every city he was supposed to file paperwork in to do the transfer said the transfer never happened, Trump even publicly said in a bunch of rallies he never did the transfer. Glenn Greenwald did some reporting on it in July of 2020.
Right, the CEO "transfer paperwork" that every city requires. 🙄