Trump has been indicted by a New York grand jury. We dot not know if it is “felony” offence or “misdemeanor” offence until he surrenders. It is expected Trump will surrender next Tuesday.
Misdemeanor is a minor crime punishable by a fine or short-term jail.
Felony is a more serious type of crime.
I am not a Republican or a Democrat. I am an Independent. Here are my observations:
Trump had an affair with a porn actress Stormy Daniels. When he was running for President in 2016, he paid her $130,000 thru his lawyer to buy her silence. His lawyer opened a shell company and paid this porn actress. Trump then reimbursed $130,000 to this shell company and logged as legal expenses in his company books.
The prosecutors say Trump falsified business records by terming this reimbursement as legal fees. This is only a misdemeanor. But the prosecutors want to prove Trump falsified records to conceal another crime (campaign law violation). This would become a felony.
I have quite a few readers who are excellent CPAs/CAs. I want their opinion. I am not an Accountant. Correct me if I am wrong. I think this is a bookkeeping error.
Federal prosecutors (from U.S. Department of Justice) investigated this case initially. They felt it was so weak, they declined to pursue it. New York State District Attorney (who is a Democrat) took up this case and sent it to grand jury.
(In a grand jury, there is no judge and there is no defendant or his/her lawyers present to put their case. Only 23 jurors listen to what the prosecutor says and decide whether to indict someone or not.)
His surrendering to the authorities is not that simple. It is more complicating. Trump is an ex-President of USA and he is supposed to be protected by Secret Service at all times. I don’t know how this will play out when he surrenders.
Governor DeSantis of Florida. He is opposing Trump for the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 election. Trump lives in Florida. In case Trump decides not to go to New York and surrender for indictment, DeSantis said he will not allow New York Police to take him from Florida.
I think Democrats made a mistake in indicting Trump. He will refer this indictment in a loud voice every day until the election day. He will get lot of sympathy votes. TV networks are obsessed with Trump and will cover him every day 24/7. That means lot of free publicity for him. Good or bad, he will be in the news all the time.
Using the justice system or other branches of government to persecute the opposition makes America nothing better than a third world country.
He has gotten away from larger issues earlier, this may not be that big.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rajesh. He will not go to jail, I am sure. There are many Republican appointed judges. Somebody will throw this case out.
DeleteUsing official machinery for partisan purposes keeps happening everywhere. Some do it very subtly. No one realises. Some do that very openly. That hits headlines, and creates lots of controversy, and in the process the victim gets lots of publicity.
ReplyDeleteHere in India, right now something very similar is playing out. The only difference is in the political ideologies the two. It's the other way round here.