{"id":2252450,"date":"2024-05-24T19:08:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-24T23:08:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-trump-trial-has-backfired-spectacularly-on-the-democrats\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T19:12:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T23:12:05","slug":"how-the-trump-trial-has-backfired-spectacularly-on-the-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-the-trump-trial-has-backfired-spectacularly-on-the-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Democrats&#8217; Trump Trial Backfires Spectacularly"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-the-trump-trial-has-backfired-spectacularly-on-the-democrats%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2252450&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses the Trump trial in NY, highlighting its perceived \u2062lack of credibility and political agenda. It\u2064 criticizes \u2062the prosecution&#8217;s star witness, Michael Cohen, and \u200bsuggests the trial has backfired \u200con the Democratic Party. The narrative questions the\u200c legitimacy of the trial and its impact on the upcoming \u200belection, emphasizing the defense&#8217;s arguments against Cohen&#8217;s credibility. The article portrays the\u200c trial as politically motivated\u2062 and lacking\u2063 substantial evidence.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Unlike the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-one-in-six-biden-voters-would-have-changed-their-vote-if-they-had-known-about-scandals-suppressed-by-media\/\" title=\"Poll: One In Six Biden Voters Would Have Changed Their Vote If They Had Known About Scandals Suppressed By Media\">national news media<\/a>, I haven\u2019t spent a lot of time covering the day-to-day happenings in the Donald Trump criminal trial in New York. There\u2019s a few reasons for that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">First of all, everyone (regardless of politics) already understands that the trial is a farce. It\u2019s a criminal proceeding over an alleged bookkeeping error that was supposedly made many years ago, which harmed no one. The idea that the leading presidential candidate should be imprisoned on this basis \u2014 even if these charges were somehow proven in court beyond a reasonable doubt \u2014 is laughable. In the third world, they at least invent plausible-sounding charges before they throw political dissidents and opposition leaders in jail. But in this case, we\u2019re left with \u201cfalsifying business records in the first degree.\u201d It sounds like something Michael Scott would accuse one of his employees of doing. It\u2019s laughable on its face.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The other problem with going into any great detail about this case is that it risks legitimizing the proceedings. This is why CNN has panels of 25 guests every night, breaking down all of the testimony in excruciating detail. They want people to think of this trial as serious and fair \u2014 something worth analyzing at a technical level. But it\u2019s not. There\u2019s no reason whatsoever to accept the premise that this proceeding is anything more than a show trial, brought by a partisan prosecutor in one of the most partisan jurisdictions in the country, before a clearly unfavorable judge. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, however, I\u2019m going to make an exception to my general approach to this trial. Because at this stage, it\u2019s important to highlight what an unmitigated disaster it\u2019s been for the Democratic Party, with less than six months to go until the election. It\u2019s actually comical, as you\u2019ll see in a second. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At a minimum, from a purely political perspective, this trial \u2014 and the decision to make this case the first Trump prosecution \u2014 has backfired so spectacularly that it\u2019s been a clear net positive for Trump and his campaign. That\u2019s why Donald Trump was able to hold a massive rally in the Bronx last night \u2014 not exactly a traditionally pro-Trump part of town. And right now it\u2019s all but certain that this is the only criminal trial Trump will face before the election, so there\u2019s no real hope for Democrats to salvage their strategy of using lawfare to swing the vote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The collapse of the prosecution\u2019s case was sealed with the testimony of their star witness, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. It was always clear \u2014 as even the most partisan CNN panelists have admitted on-air \u2014 that without Cohen, there is no case. He\u2019s the one claiming that Trump ordered him to pay hush money to a porn star to protect Trump\u2019s campaign, and that Trump also tried to reimburse him through fake invoices for legal services.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/episode\/ep-1375-member-exclusive\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are no cameras allowed in the courtroom, because in New York, judges do everything they can to imprison presidential candidates in secret. Fortunately, we do have transcripts of the proceedings, and a handful of YouTube channels have conducted dramatic readings of Cohen\u2019s cross-examinations by Trump\u2019s defense team. One of those channels is called \u201cGood Lawgic.\u201d It\u2019s run by a lawyer and it\u2019s known for its legal analysis, so they\u2019re perfect for the job. They understand how absurd Cohen\u2019s testimony is, so they have a hard time keeping a straight face.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019ll go in chronological order throughout the testimony, so you can get a sense of how things escalated \u2014 or rather, spiraled out of control for the prosecution. Let\u2019s start with Michael Cohen claiming that Trump\u2019s team had secretly reimbursed him, in part, for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-rejects-trump-bid-to-shield-financial-records\/\" title=\"Supreme Court Rejects Trump Bid To Shield Financial Records\">hush money payment<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For context, Michael Cohen had previously testified that he made around $420,000 a year from the Trump organization. That was his consistent pay, year after year. But in this testimony, Cohen attempts to claim that one year, his $420,000 salary was actually a partial reimbursement for the hush money payment. Watch:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cohen says he wasn\u2019t paid his normal salary; was paid for the loan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In case it\u2019s not clear, everything after the re-enactors started laughing wasn\u2019t the actual testimony. They couldn\u2019t even get through the transcript because the claim they were reading was too absurd.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cohen\u2019s saying that the Trump Organization didn\u2019t pay him $420,000 because that\u2019s what they always paid him. Instead, Cohen is claiming that during that particular year, the Trump team paid him $420,000 because they were giving him the hush money loan repayment and then doubling it, and then adding a bonus because they were feeling generous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In other words, Cohen is claiming that this secret arrangement, which allegedly involves funneling a lot of money to a porn star and then reimbursing Cohen, just so happens to add up to Cohen receiving the same pay he\u2019d normally receive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In order to sell a story like that to the jury \u2014 a story that doesn\u2019t make much sense \u2014 you need to have a very trustworthy, unimpeachable witness. But in the next few minutes, Cohen made it clear he\u2019s not only untrustworthy \u2014 he\u2019s also done something far worse than anything Donald Trump is accused of doing. Watch:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is the prosecution\u2019s star witness admitting on the stand to willfully stealing tens of thousands of dollars from his employer, and not paying it back. By any measure, that\u2019s a lot more serious than falsifying a business record. But New York prosecutors never had any interest in investigating Michael Cohen for that theft. Instead they gave him immunity to testify.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That wasn\u2019t because Michael Cohen had any kind of credibility prior to this trial. Even before he admitted on the stand to stealing from his employer, Cohen previously lied to both Congress and the Justice Department. Additionally, Cohen had told numerous reporters \u2014 in recorded calls, on the record \u2014 that Trump had nothing to do with the hush money payment. He admitted that during his cross-examination as well:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cohen admits Trump had nothing to do with the hush money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">These are conversations that Cohen recorded, sometimes secretly, in which he affirmed again and again that Trump had nothing to do with these payments. And Cohen apparently didn\u2019t only tell that story to reporters. A defense witness, Robert Costello, also testified that Cohen told him in 2018 that Trump \u201cknew nothing\u201d about the $130,000 payment he made to Stormy Daniels.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Throughout the trial, Trump\u2019s defense team outlined why Cohen has a motive to change his story and lie about Donald Trump. One of the main reasons is that he was apparently upset that Trump didn\u2019t give him a job in the White House. Getting left on the sidelines like this seems to have caused some problems in the relationship. Earlier in the trial, Trump\u2019s lawyers played audio tapes of Cohen saying the trial, \u201cfills me with delight\u201d and that he felt, \u201cgiddy with hope and laughter\u201d imagining both Trump and his family in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In court, in front of the jury, Cohen essentially said the same thing. He admitted on cross-examination to saying that he wanted revenge against Donald Trump:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Again, this is the man the prosecution\u2019s case depends on. Without his testimony, they have no chance of convicting Donald Trump, even if they manage to prove the existence of falsified records. Cohen\u2019s testimony is the link between Trump and those records. And there\u2019s no reason to believe anything he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a sane jurisdiction, the judge would have issued a directed verdict by now. The case would be dismissed and the prosecutors would be sanctioned for attempting to imprison the leading candidate for president on the basis of testimony from a witness who\u2019s clearly been discredited.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But it\u2019s not clear what will happen next, because this case is being tried in New York, with a clearly pro-prosecution judge and an electorate that overwhelmingly supported Joe Biden in the last election. Still, there are signs that there is some political diversity on the jury. During jury selection, eight jurors said they read the New York Times, while one juror said he gets his news from Truth Social. In a political show trial like this, that\u2019s as good a sign as any that there might be a hung jury, because it\u2019s hard to imagine a Truth Social user voting to convict Donald Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At the same time, the judge is doing everything he can to encourage the jury to convict. Under New York law, in order to convict Donald Trump of felony falsification of business records, the jury needs to unanimously agree that Trump falsified documents in order to conceal a separate crime. But the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-either-have-laws-or-we-dont-have-laws-california-violated-its-election-laws-as-well-results-are-likely-invalid\/\" title=\"We Either Have Laws or We Don\u2019t Have Laws: California Violated Its Election Laws As Well \u2013 Results Are Likely Invalid\">judge recently ruled<\/a> that the jury doesn\u2019t need to unanimously agree about what that \u201cseparate crime\u201d was. The prosecution certainly hasn\u2019t suggested anything.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">As far as I can tell, it seems like the idea is to suggest that Trump was trying to conceal some kind of campaign finance violation \u2014 which is a notoriously confusing area of law. That\u2019s why the defense wanted to put a campaign finance law expert on the stand. But the judge prevented the defense from doing that. Instead, the judge allowed Michael Cohen to strongly imply Trump had violated campaign finance law, without explaining how.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This was a predictable problem from the moment New York prosecutors unveiled their criminal complaint against Trump, which listed 34 felony counts \u2014 all of them saying Trump had concealed some other crime. But the complaint never mentioned what that other crime was.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Everyone assumed the prosecution would eventually get around to explaining that part. Well, they\u2019ve just rested their case. And still have no idea what that other crime is. Apparently the jury doesn\u2019t have to figure it out, either.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For all the talk about how Donald Trump is a \u201cthreat to the rule of law\u201d and \u201cdemocracy,\u201d this trial is easily the single most lawless, vindictive and undemocratic prosecution that\u2019s been brought in modern history. They\u2019re trying to imprison the man who could very well be the next president on the basis of a crime they can\u2019t even define, based on the testimony of a witness who admits he\u2019s a liar who\u2019s out for revenge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If there\u2019s any upside, it\u2019s that prosecutors in New York have managed to thoroughly discredit not only themselves, but every other effort to imprison Donald Trump. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Thanks to Alvin Bragg, now everyone can see these prosecutions for what they are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I haven&#8217;t focused on the daily events of the Trump trial in NY like the media. The trial, seen as a farce by all, deals with an alleged bookkeeping mistake. Politics aside, it&#8217;s clear to most that the proceedings lack credibility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":305,"featured_media":2252451,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-2153826724.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2252450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-2153826724.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2252451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}