Manhattan DA reopening Stormy Daniels hush money case

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ASPartOfMe
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21 Nov 2022, 3:05 pm

Manhattan Prosecutors Move to Jump-Start Criminal Inquiry Into Trump

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The Manhattan district attorney’s office has moved to jump-start its criminal investigation into Donald J. Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter, seeking to breathe new life into an inquiry that once seemed to have reached a dead end.

Under the new district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, the prosecutors have returned to the long-running investigation's original focus: a hush-money payment to a porn star who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump.

The district attorney’s office first examined the payment to the actress, Stormy Daniels, years ago before changing direction to scrutinize Mr. Trump’s broader business practices. But Mr. Bragg and some of his deputies have recently indicated to associates, supporters and at least one lawyer involved in the matter that they are newly optimistic about building a case against Mr. Trump, the people said.

For Mr. Bragg, the hush-money developments suggest the first signs of progress since he took office at the beginning of the year, when he balked at indicting Mr. Trump in connection with his business practices.

But in bringing the inquiry full circle to the hush-money payment, Mr. Bragg is focusing on an aspect of the investigation that previously failed to bear fruit.

The idea of building a case around the hush money had resurfaced with such regularity in recent years that prosecutors came to refer to it as the “zombie theory,” an idea that just wouldn’t die, one of the people said.

Under Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, the district attorney’s office rejected the idea of focusing a case solely on the hush money, concluding, with the help of outside legal experts, that it would hinge on a largely untested and therefore risky legal theory. And if Mr. Bragg were to charge Mr. Trump without uncovering any new evidence or relying on a more conventional theory, he would risk having a judge or appellate court throw out the case.

To help build the hush-money case, prosecutors are revisiting another strategy that has yet to work: pressuring a top Trump lieutenant, Allen H. Weisselberg, to cooperate.

Mr. Weisselberg, who has direct knowledge of the hush-money payment, has long resisted the prosecutorial pressure campaign, repeatedly stymieing the investigation into Mr. Trump. There is little indication that the loyal executive, the former president’s financial gatekeeper for decades, will suddenly give in to Mr. Bragg.

Mr. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and said he never had an affair with Ms. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Michael van der Veen, a lawyer for Mr. Trump’s company, said: “I really don’t believe that they’re going back and conducting these investigations, and if there’s any truth to it, it would show poor judgment,” adding, “The millions of taxpayer dollars they’ve spent on countless investigations, it’s a big waste of time and money.”

The investigation into Mr. Trump has touched on a wide range of his business practices over the last four years, but it all began with the $130,000 in hush money.

Michael D. Cohen, who served as Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and fixer, paid the money during the final days of the 2016 campaign to buy the silence of Ms. Daniels. Federal prosecutors, concluding that the payment amounted to an illegal campaign contribution, extracted a guilty plea from Mr. Cohen, who said that he was following orders from Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump and his company reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the $130,000, further raising questions about their involvement in the hush-money deal.

Although it came in federal court, Mr. Cohen’s plea provided the impetus for the district attorney’s office to investigate whether Mr. Trump ran afoul of state laws with the hush-money payment. In particular, they examined whether the company falsely accounted for the reimbursements to Mr. Cohen as a legal expense — in violation of a New York law that prohibits the falsifying of business records.

The investigation gained steam when the district attorney at the time, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., subpoenaed Mr. Trump’s accounting firm for his tax returns and other financial records, spurring a long legal battle that resulted in a United States Supreme Court ruling in Mr. Vance’s favor. But by the time Mr. Vance obtained Mr. Trump’s tax returns in early 2021, he had developed concerns about indicting Mr. Trump on charges of falsifying Trump Organization records related to the hush money.

Falsifying business records can be charged as a misdemeanor in New York. To make it a felony, prosecutors would need to show that Mr. Trump falsified the hush-money records to help commit or conceal a second crime.

It is possible, legal experts said, that Mr. Bragg is pursuing a violation of a New York State election law to underpin a potential case. Under Mr. Vance, the prosecutors briefly mulled using a state election law violation, but rejected it: Since the presidential race during which the hush-money payment occurred was a federal election, they concluded it was outside the bounds of state law.

It is unclear how Mr. Bragg might resolve that issue. For Mr. Vance, the challenge of the hush-money case provided a reason to shift gears.

To this non lawyer this seems like whack-a-mole.


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30 Jan 2023, 10:19 pm

Manhattan DA presenting evidence in Trump-Stormy Daniels investigation to grand jury

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The Manhattan District Attorney is presenting evidence to a grand jury that former President Donald Trump may have committed crimes in connection with hush money payments to an adult film actress in 2016, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The move lays the groundwork for possible criminal charges against Trump, who has said he did nothing wrong.

The investigation stems from the revelation early in Trump's presidency that his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, had made a deal in October 2016 with adult film star Stormy Daniels, who said she had an extramarital affair with Trump. Daniels received $130,000, and in exchange, she agreed not to discuss her story with reporters.

Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating campaign finance law in 2018 and went to prison.

As Cohen put it during a plea hearing, the payments were made "in coordination with, and at the direction of, a candidate for federal office." He said paid the money and arranged to be reimbursed $420,000 by Trump's company to cover his taxes. The company recorded the payments to Cohen as legal fees, which could constitute a crime in New York.

Now the Manhattan DA's Office has summoned witnesses to testify about the hush-money payments before a newly empaneled grand jury, according to the source.

Trump could face a charge of falsifying business records, the lowest-level felony in New York.

The grand jury could vote on an indictment in a matter of months. If jurors do indict, that means Trump, who is again running for president, would have to show up in criminal court in Manhattan to enter a plea in the case.


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31 Jan 2023, 1:19 pm

I heard Michael Cohen on a couple interviews saying he'd gone to some meetings about this and all he could say was that the people present were a team of top notch professionals and they weren't wasting their time or his and he expected he'd be called to future meetings. Sounds like they're pursuing something with this for sure. Maybe now they have enough info to make something of it - like a lot of the ongoing investigations that take time to get to the bottom of.

I Also suspect that multiple investigations, state or federal, already have enough info to press charges or whatever the legalese word for it is, and they're all just waiting for someone else to do it first so they don't become the target of trump's wrath.. but once the dam breaks and the first charges are filed, my guess is there will be a barrage of charges against trump and his associates all over the country filed and announced in rapid succession over a period of months. Then probably ever more later as his criminal empire gets RICO'd and picked apart by the feds & the taxman. :D


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31 Jan 2023, 2:08 pm

goldfish21 wrote:
I heard Michael Cohen on a couple interviews saying he'd gone to some meetings about this and all he could say was that the people present were a team of top notch professionals and they weren't wasting their time or his and he expected he'd be called to future meetings. Sounds like they're pursuing something with this for sure. Maybe now they have enough info to make something of it - like a lot of the ongoing investigations that take time to get to the bottom of.

I Also suspect that multiple investigations, state or federal, already have enough info to press charges or whatever the legalese word for it is, and they're all just waiting for someone else to do it first so they don't become the target of trump's wrath.. but once the dam breaks and the first charges are filed, my guess is there will be a barrage of charges against trump and his associates all over the country filed and announced in rapid succession over a period of months. Then probably ever more later as his criminal empire gets RICO'd and picked apart by the feds & the taxman. :D


Two reasons I hope he gets convicted of this.
1. This is easy to understand. Both the speech before the Capital stormed and the call to the Georgia election official can be interpreted by those so inclined(not me) as suggestions not pressure. If proven there is no suggestion about hush money. And with talk about rigged elections, paying hush money to a prostitute was an attempt to rig the 2016 election.

2. As a New Yorker that we gave him to world has been a never ending source of pain and embarrassment. It should be New York that finally makes him pay a price.


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31 Jan 2023, 2:34 pm

Hopefully there's a competitive race to roast him and the hardest decisions judges have is figuring out where he's going to stay once he's convicted in multiple jurisdictions.


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06 Feb 2023, 11:01 pm

“Going for the kill”: Legal experts say Trump could face 4 years in prison amid new grand jury probe

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The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday began presenting evidence to a new grand jury about former President Donald Trump's role in hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign, according to The New York Times.

The grand jury was recently impaneled and District Attorney Alvin Bragg appears to be "laying the groundwork for potential criminal charges against the former president in the coming months," sources told the outlet.

David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer who helped broker the deal with Daniels, was seen entering the building where the grand jury is sitting on Monday.

Former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the hush money payment "in coordination with, and at the direction of" Trump in 2018, has said he has repeatedly spoken with prosecutors.

Prosecutors also intend to interview former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and Trump Organization employees Jeffrey McConney and Deborah Tarasoff — who helped arrange for Cohen to be reimbursed the $130,000 he paid to Daniels, according to the report. Prosecutors are also expected to meet with former Daniels attorney Keith Davidson. Prosecutors have also contacted former 2016 Trump campaign officials and subpoenaed phone records and other documents in a sign prosecutors are seeking to corroborate witness accounts.

Bragg empaneled the new grand jury after facing criticism for seemingly backing off Trump after replacing former D.A. Cy Vance, who first opened the probe. Bragg initially abandoned plans to present evidence against Trump himself, prompting two top prosecutors on the team to resign in protest. But after securing a tax fraud conviction against the Trump Organization last year, Bragg renewed his scrutiny of the hush money payment to Daniels, which first triggered the original probe. The renewed probe is focused on whether Trump's company falsely classified the reimbursement to Cohen as a legal expense. To charge Trump with a felony, prosecutors would need to show that Trump falsified the records to help commit to conceal a second crime — a violation of New York state election law — though the theory is largely untested in court.

Trump lashed out over the report, calling the case "old news" and insisting he "NEVER HAD AN AFFAIR."

But legal experts say the move shows that Bragg likely has a good reason why he shifted course in the probe.

"Bragg initially made a decision not to pursue charges against Trump, and it appears to he now has reversed course," tweeted former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti. "I suspect there is more to this story and we'll learn about that in the months to come."

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, called the investigation the "sleeper case to watch" as Trump also faces potential legal trouble in a Fulton County DA probe looking at his post-election efforts to overturn his loss and a DOJ investigation into classified documents he refused to turn over in response to a grand jury subpoena.

"It may be that they have been able to uncover objective evidence that corroborates it... that makes him feel this is a stronger case than they did back when Alvin Bragg first came to office," former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade predicted during an appearance on MSNBC.

Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman told the network that the decision to impanel a new grand jury shows that Bragg is "going for the kill."

Trump could face up to four years in prison if he is convicted of first-degree falsifying business records, former district attorneys told Insider, though securing a conviction could be complicated.

"You're falsifying your records to show that it is a business expense, as if you're paying a lawyer to do legal work, and this wasn't that at all," Josh Moscow, a former senior financial crimes prosecutor at the Manhattan DA's office, told the outlet. "This was a conduit payment."

Prosecutors would have to link Trump himself to the payment but a recording Cohen made of Trump discussing a hush-money payment to another woman, Karen McDougal, could be "pretty incriminating," Daniel Alonso, a former chief assistant district attorney at the Manhattan DA's office, told the outlet.

"It always struck me as incredibly unfair that Michael Cohen is the only person that was charged in this crime," he added. "The idea that the bag man is the only one that goes down and the principal gets away scot-free just doesn't really square with justice


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09 Mar 2023, 10:21 pm

Manhattan DA invites Trump to testify in grand jury probe of Stormy Daniels payoff: Source

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The Manhattan district attorney's office has informed former President Donald Trump of his right to testify before a grand jury investigating his role in a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

In New York, potential targets of investigations are, by law, given the chance to appear before the grand jury hearing evidence.

So-called "cross notice" was given to Trump in recent days, the sources said, and could be a sign that District Attorney Alvin Bragg is moving toward a charging decision.

News of the development was first reported by The New York Times.

"The Manhattan District Attorney's threat to indict President Trump is simply insane," a Trump spokesperson said in a statement.

In recent weeks ABC News has reported on the witnesses who have appeared before the grand jury, including former Trump associates Kellyanne Conway, Hope Hicks and Michael Cohen.


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10 Mar 2023, 3:53 am

:lol:
:ketchup chips:
Various cases all seem to be getting close to charging decisions.. they're probably all ready and waiting so they don't have to be the first to poke the orange bear.. but after the first charge drops from whomever lays it, the rest will be announced rapid fire after that as everyone races to be second. This is gonna be awesome. 8)


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10 Mar 2023, 8:32 am

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: It's so funny to watch them scramble to make something stick. January 6th is falling apart, the classified documents case is falling apart, COVID-19 secrets are being revealed. But each time something new crops up the eager beavers get their hopes up. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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10 Mar 2023, 11:55 am

Persephone29 wrote:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: It's so funny to watch them scramble to make something stick. January 6th is falling apart, the classified documents case is falling apart, COVID-19 secrets are being revealed. But each time something new crops up the eager beavers get their hopes up. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

:? :? :? :? :? :?

January 6th is falling apart according to who ? tucker carlson ? trumplestiltskin ?

maga-lardo classified documents case is falling apart according to who ? alex jones ?

COVID-19 secrets revealed - what secrets ? You mean the part where that nutjob doctor in florida falsified statistics about vaccine side effects because he's an antivaxxer ?


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10 Mar 2023, 3:00 pm

Mar-a-lago is falling apart because it turns out that all the people the FBI likes have declassified documents, especially BIDEN who probably uses them to paper the bottom of his bird's cage.

January 6th is falling apart because there's video evidence that counters the claims made by the left.

Covid-19 was leaked by a Chinese lab that received funding from individuals who would profit from selling the vaccine. I used to be a Public Health nurse, that's where my retirement will come from. I get emails from the Public Health Agency of Florida that regularly update all the vaccine injuries caused by this rushed vaccine.

I'll tell you what I tell others, "don't believe me." It's no skin off my back. But, you're not going to get any joy.

If they manage to get a conviction, it won't hurt Trump. He'll just keep moving forward with the conviction.


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10 Mar 2023, 3:47 pm

Persephone29 wrote:
Mar-a-lago is falling apart because it turns out that all the people the FBI likes have declassified documents, especially BIDEN who probably uses them to paper the bottom of his bird's cage.

January 6th is falling apart because there's video evidence that counters the claims made by the left.

Covid-19 was leaked by a Chinese lab that received funding from individuals who would profit from selling the vaccine. I used to be a Public Health nurse, that's where my retirement will come from. I get emails from the Public Health Agency of Florida that regularly update all the vaccine injuries caused by this rushed vaccine.

I'll tell you what I tell others, "don't believe me." It's no skin off my back. But, you're not going to get any joy.

If they manage to get a conviction, it won't hurt Trump. He'll just keep moving forward with the conviction.


Your perceptions are very interesting.

Maga-lardo docs: Lardo obstructed the feds getting their stolen docs back for more than a year, got his pool house searched, had lawyers lie multiple times saying everything was returned, and confessed to his crimes multiple times on public forums. Biden’s people found a few docs and voluntarily turned them over and invited an inquiry to investigate handling of docs etc. BIG difference between the two. The fact that Biden and others also possessed docs does not somehow magically wipe trumplestiltskin’s slate clean.

A few cherry picked video clips of insurrectionists walking through hallways doesn’t mean that the Capitol wasn’t stormed by people attempting to assassinate mike pence, that people didn’t die, that 150 officers weren’t injured, that things weren’t damaged, destroyed, or stolen, that others didn’t die of their traumas afterwards, or that seditious insurrectionists with military training didn’t storm the place attempting to overthrow the US gov’t.

COVID’s still out. We may never know the full story beyond the fact that the virus exists and was quite lethal when it first hit.

If trump gets convicted of multiple crimes it’ll likely hurt him. Especially if he gets nailed with one that prevents him from running for office. (Sedition is the charge, I think.) He’s also likely going to have his crime empire RICO’d and assets seized and sold off to pay taxes - which was predicted in ~2015.. that his holdings will be chipped away at long after he’s dead and his kids will watch the family fortune dwindle down to zero as the US/State gov’t’s takes what’s owed.

Then hopefully all the magas scurry back under rocks and stay there while the world moves on passed the orange guy and makes actual progress towards a better society.


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10 Mar 2023, 7:56 pm

^ I wish you luck, I hope all your wildest dreams of Trump's take down come true. You're obviously a man who needs this. I will do my best not to yuck your yum. It's just that sometimes I can't help myself. For years you have gone on and on about how Trump is gonna get it, yet he's never gotten it. :lol:


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10 Mar 2023, 8:02 pm

Well, if past presidents have never paid for their crimes, why would anyone think Trump would be the first.



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10 Mar 2023, 9:51 pm

InTheWild wrote:
Well, if past presidents have never paid for their crimes, why would anyone think Trump would be the first.


You don't understand Goldfish21, all his happiness is invested on Trump being the first. Can't tell you how many man hours and posts are devoted to, "this is IT, Trump's really gonna get it this time!" :roll: Only it never happens.


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10 Mar 2023, 10:16 pm

Persephone29 wrote:
InTheWild wrote:
Well, if past presidents have never paid for their crimes, why would anyone think Trump would be the first.


You don't understand Goldfish21, all his happiness is invested on Trump being the first. Can't tell you how many man hours and posts are devoted to, "this is IT, Trump's really gonna get it this time!" :roll: Only it never happens.


There do seem to be a lot of folks who have hyperfocused on Trump as if all our problems began on January 20, 2017.