{"id":2256698,"date":"2024-05-31T12:53:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T16:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-week-in-lawfare-land-democrats-secure-conviction-of-their-chief-political-rival\/"},"modified":"2024-05-31T12:57:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-31T16:57:20","slug":"this-week-in-lawfare-land-democrats-secure-conviction-of-their-chief-political-rival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-week-in-lawfare-land-democrats-secure-conviction-of-their-chief-political-rival\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Lawfare: Democrats Convict Chief Political Rival"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/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%2Fthis-week-in-lawfare-land-democrats-secure-conviction-of-their-chief-political-rival%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=2256698&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>This is a summary of a significant \u2064event where Democrats convicted a\u2064 former U.S. president\u200d on felony charges for \u200cthe\u200c first time in history. The trial,\u200b led by Democrat DA Alvin Bragg, resulted in a guilty verdict on all 34 counts. The case involved \u2063charges of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/are-the-charges-brought-against-the-trump-organizations-cfo-part-of-a-witch-hunt-experts-weigh-in\/\" title=\"Are The Charges Brought Against The Trump Organization\u2019s CFO Part Of A Witch Hunt? Experts Weigh In\">falsifying business records<\/a>, marking a groundbreaking moment in U.S. legal history. President Trump awaits sentencing\u2062 and plans to appeal the verdict.  <\/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><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>With President Joe Biden\u2019s poll numbers sinking and inflation rising, Democrats have achieved another historic feat this week: convicting a former president on felony charges for the first time in U.S. history. <\/p>\n<p>The Manhattan criminal trial, led by Democrat District Attorney Alvin Bragg, entered its final stage on Thursday. After just 10 hours of deliberation, and a request to re-hear testimony from tabloid publisher David Pecker and President Trump\u2019s disbarred former counsel Michael Cohen, the jury returned a guilty verdict against President Donald Trump on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. President Trump is now awaiting his sentencing hearing in July. He is expected to appeal. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2027453180\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1d7ac1dae7976cda319908f7d4b0d236 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1d7ac1dae7976cda319908f7d4b0d236\"><\/div>\n<p>Here\u2019s the latest information you need to know about each case.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/this-week-in-lawfare-land\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read our previous installments here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Manhattan, New York: Prosecution by DA Alvin Bragg for NDA Payment<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How we got here<\/strong>: In this New York state criminal case, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg \u2014 who The New York Times <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/09\/magazine\/alvin-bragg-donald-trump-trial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">acknowledged<\/a> had \u201ccampaigned as the best candidate to go after the former president\u201d \u2014 charged former President Donald Trump with 34 felony charges for alleged falsification of business records.\u00a0Trump\u2019s former attorney Michael Cohen paid pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election as part of a nondisclosure agreement in which she agreed not to publicize her claims that she had an affair with Trump (who denies the allegations). Nondisclosure agreements are not illegal, but Bragg <a href=\"https:\/\/manhattanda.org\/district-attorney-bragg-announces-34-count-felony-indictment-of-former-president-donald-j-trump\/\">claims<\/a> Trump concealed the payment to help his 2016 election chances and in doing so was concealing a \u201ccrime.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Judge Merchan, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/politics-news\/judge-trumps-new-york-case-appears-donated-15-biden-president-2020-rcna78577\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">donor<\/a> to Biden\u2019s campaign and an anti-Trump cause in 2020,\u00a0has issued a gag order on President Trump generally prohibiting him from publicly speaking on possible jurors, witnesses, and other personnel in this case. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a5a3693b515b310ef0d7ad9d0abb9b69 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a5a3693b515b310ef0d7ad9d0abb9b69\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Latest developments<\/strong>: This criminal trial concluded on Thursday, May 30, with the jury returning a guilty verdict on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. This case marks the first time a former U.S. president has been convicted of a felony. President Trump is expected to appeal the verdict. <\/p>\n<p>Prior to the verdict, closing arguments in this case concluded late Tuesday evening, and the jury began deliberating on Wednesday. After about 10 hours of deliberation across two days, the jury returned its guilty verdict on Thursday. <\/p>\n<p>The jury instructions confounded many legal scholars, and seemingly the jury as well. At their base, they indicated that the jurors could actually disagree on the underlying crime that Trump was alleged to have \u201ccovered up\u201d with the payments at issue. So long as they believed that there was <em>some<\/em> underlying crime \u2014 never fully proven at any trial \u2014 then they could enter a guilty verdict. Moreover, the jury was never permitted to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/24699534-trump-ny-criminal-trial-jury-instructions?embed=true&#038;responsive=false&#038;sidebar=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a copy of the 55-page instructions<\/a>, so jurors requested the judge re-read those instructions to them in the middle of their deliberations.<\/p>\n<p>Recall also that former Federal Election Commission Chair Brad Smith was not permitted to testify as to the nature of the supposed underlying campaign finance violation. His longstanding belief \u2014 as <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/15\/trumps-strongest-new-york-defense-has-nothing-to-do-with-alvin-bragg-or-judge-merchan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reiterated<\/a> in The Federalist \u2014 is that almost anything a candidate does can be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/those-payments-to-mistresses-were-unseemly-that-doesnt-mean-they-were-illegal\/2018\/08\/22\/634acdf4-a63b-11e8-8fac-12e98c13528d_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interpreted<\/a> as intended to \u201cinfluence an election\u201d but \u201cnot every expense that might benefit a candidate is an obligation that exists solely because the person is a candidate.\u201d Had the jury believed that theory, or even had a chance to hear it, they might have concluded that there was no underlying crime and therefore whatever payments Trump made violated no laws. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-db317896d16e65065a61d3b6a07f5d83 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-db317896d16e65065a61d3b6a07f5d83\"><\/div>\n<p>The inherent conundrum in the jury\u2019s conclusion is this: Federal election law expressly states that federal campaign funds are not available for the \u201cpersonal use\u201d of a candidate \u2014 for instance, a new suit or vacation travel. And, federal campaign funds were<em> not used<\/em> for Trump\u2019s payments. However, the prosecution apparently persuaded the jury that the precise problem was that these were off-the-books transactions that were in furtherance of the campaign, despite the very personal nature of the expenditures. Under the prosecution\u2019s theory, the \u201cpersonal use\u201d violation for campaign funds could be swept away, if anything a candidate does during, or even before, a campaign can now be considered a campaign expenditure. This is a new, gaping hole in federal law created by the Manhattan D.A.\u2019s office. <\/p>\n<p>President Trump\u2019s sentencing hearing is now scheduled for July 11 \u2014 just four days before the Republican National Convention. But the sentencing hearing could be significantly delayed by President Trump\u2019s expected appeal. President Trump will not be imprisoned while he awaits his July 11 sentencing. <\/p>\n<p>At his sentencing, President Trump could potentially receive a prison sentence, home confinement, or probation. The prison sentence could be a maximum of four years for each of the 34 counts, but Judge Merchan has discretion to determine whether a prison sentence is appropriate. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-ny-sentencing-days-before-republican-convention\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Legal experts have opined<\/a> that it is unlikely for a person convicted of nonviolent crimes, and with no prior criminal history, to be sent to jail. <\/p>\n<p>The conviction does not affect President Trump\u2019s ability to run for president, though it may complicate his ability to run a modern presidential campaign. For instance, if he were to receive a sentence including home confinement, he may be forced to request permission from a New York bureaucrat for permission to travel to hold a campaign rally. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Fulton County, Georgia: Prosecution by DA Fani Willis for Questioning Election Results<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How we got here<\/strong>: The Georgia state criminal case is helmed by District Attorney Fani Willis and her team of prosecutors \u2014 which until recently included Nathan Wade, with whom Willis had an improper romantic relationship. Willis charged Trump in August 2023 with 13 felony counts, including racketeering charges, related to his alleged attempt to challenge the 2020 election results in Georgia. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Latest developments<\/strong>: This case is on hold while awaiting consideration from an appeals court to determine whether Willis will be thrown off the case for prosecutorial misconduct.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Southern District of Florida: Prosecution by Biden DOJ for Handling of Classified Documents<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How we got here<\/strong>: In this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/terrorism-homicide-prosecutors-brought-in-to-try-capitol-riot-defendants-for-crimes-like-trespassing\/\" title=\"Terrorism, Homicide Prosecutors Brought In To Try Capitol Riot Defendants For Crimes Like Trespassing\">federal criminal case<\/a>, Special Counsel Jack Smith and federal prosecutors with Biden\u2019s Justice Department <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/09\/biden-doj-indicts-former-president-donald-trump-over-classified-documents-squabble\/\">charged former President Trump in June 2023 with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/last-week-in-lawfare-land-what-to-know-about-each-legal-crusade-against-trump\/\" title=\"Recap of Recent Legal Battles Against Trump: Key Points to Remember\">40 federal charges related<\/a> to his alleged mishandling of classified documents<\/a> at his Mar-a-Lago residence. In early May, Judge Aileen Cannon postponed this trial indefinitely. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Latest developments: <\/strong>On May 28, Judge Eileen Cannon denied Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s request for a gag order on President Donald Trump. Judge Cannon criticized the prosecution\u2019s failure to follow proper court procedures in conferring with Trump\u2019s legal team before requesting the order. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Washington, D.C.:\u00a0 Prosecution by Biden DOJ for Jan. 6 Speech<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How we got here<\/strong>: In this federal criminal case, Special Counsel Jack Smith and federal prosecutors <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/08\/03\/jack-smiths-latest-indictment-is-legally-flawed-and-politically-suspect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">charged former President Trump in August 2023 with four counts of conspiracy and obstruction<\/a> related to his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. President Trump\u2019s lawyers have argued that immunity extends to actions taken by a president while acting in his official capacity and that, in any event, the First Amendment protects his right to raise legitimate questions about a questionable election process.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Latest developments<\/strong>: This case is currently stalled while awaiting a ruling from the Supreme Court on former President Trump\u2019s immunity claim.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>New York: Lawsuit by A.G. Letitia James\u00a0for Inflating Net Worth<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong>How we got here<\/strong>: In this New York civil fraud case, Democrat Attorney General Letitia James \u2014 who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2018\/12\/19\/new-yorks-next-attorney-general-targeted-slumlords-now-shes-going-after-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">campaigned<\/a> on going after Trump \u2014 sued former President Trump under a civil fraud statute alleging that he misled banks, insurers, and others about his net worth to obtain loans, although the loans have been paid back and none of the parties involved claimed to have been injured by the deals.\u00a0Following a no-jury trial,\u00a0Judge Arthur Engoron \u2014 whom Trump\u2019s lawyers have accused of \u201castonishing departures from ordinary standards of impartiality\u201d \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/16\/trump-fined-350-million-in-democrats-latest-gambit-to-rig-the-2024-election\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued a decision<\/a> in February\u00a0ordering Trump to pay a $454 million penalty. Trump has appealed this decision and posted a required <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/26\/trumps-reduced-bond-doesnt-make-letitia-james-election-meddling-lawfare-any-less-scandalous\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$175 million appeal bond<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Latest developments<\/strong>: This case mostly remains on hold.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ecfc46d82d0d47bbd81c0ac086bb64ce fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-ecfc46d82d0d47bbd81c0ac086bb64ce\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week, amid President Biden&#8217;s falling poll numbers and increasing inflation, Democrats achieved a significant milestone by convicting a former president on felony charges. The Manhattan criminal trial, spearheaded by Democrat DA Alvin Bragg, reached its climax after 10 hours of deliberation, marking a historic moment in U.S. history<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3036,"featured_media":2256699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-31-at-12.42.09%E2%80%AFPM-1024x571.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2256698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Screenshot-2024-05-31-at-12.42.09%E2%80%AFPM-1024x571.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256698","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\/3036"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2256698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2256698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2256699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2256698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2256698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2256698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}