Donald Trump has been indicted.

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I can live with that.

:plantain chips:

Now that a New York City grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump, all eyes will be on the actual indictment — the legal document that outlines the charges.

The document is still under seal with the court, but the charges are likely to relate to Trump’s involvement in a $130,000 payment his former lawyer Michael Cohen made to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election, according to reporting by NBC News and other outlets.

What’s the legal theory of the case?
Prosecutors could charge Trump with falsifying the business records of the Trump Organization to disguise money he gave Cohen as “legal expenses,” when in fact it was to reimburse him for hush money; that charge is a misdemeanor.

To make it a felony under New York law, prosecutors need to prove that records were falsified with the intent to conceal or commit “another crime." So what's that second crime in this case? We don't know yet.

Making it about a federal campaign violation is viewed as a risky move, because federal law typically supersedes state law when it comes to federal election crimes, and no court has ever upheld a jury conviction on that ground.

If it’s a state crime, such as a conspiracy charge, what’s the evidence for that?

Are there crimes unknown to the public?
Prosecutors in Manhattan previously passed on charging Trump in relation to the alleged hush money scheme, and the federal investigation into Trump about the issue withered away long ago.

So, are more alleged crimes yet to be revealed in this new indictment?

How do prosecutors prove Trump’s ‘intent to defraud’?
The New York law on falsifying business records importantly requires an “intent to defraud.” But who was defrauded in this case?

New York prosecutors have brought a number of past cases involving phony business records, but they mostly involved an person’s submitting the fake records to a third party, like an insurer or a tax agency. Did Trump’s business records, listing checks he paid to Cohen as “legal expenses,” ever see the light of day? If they didn’t, what’s the prosecution’s theory about who was harmed?

What does the indictment say about Trumps and Cohen's roles?
Cohen is a key witness, but prosecutors can’t hinge their entire case on his testimony. In New York, no one can be convicted on the basis of testimony from an accomplice to a crime without corroborating evidence. What’s the corroborating evidence in this case?

Is it a ‘speaking’ indictment?
Sometimes prosecutors file a bare-bones charging document that doesn’t reveal much. In other cases, prosecutors paint a far more vivid picture of their allegations (with detail that isn’t required to meet the elements of the crime), known as a speaking indictment. What route do they take here?

When he announced his imminent prosecution in his hometown of New York City, Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest, predicting “death and destruction” and visions of World War III.

Outside his namesake skyscraper on Fifth Avenue – the street where he once suggested he could shoot someone and get away with it, home to his Trump Organization and the imposing glass tower from where he descended his beloved “golden escalators” to announce his 2016 presidential campaign – the protests never came.

Instead, tourists carrying M&M store bags hung around the half dozen camera crews with their lenses pointed at the door to ask what they were filming. Others looked for magnets inside the building’s gift shop, sat with their shopping bags in a quiet lobby or posed for photographs near Trump memorabilia behind glass.

But New Yorkers who have watched Mr Trump’s ascent alongside mounting allegations of fraud and corruption over decades found a moment of catharsis, when on 30 March, New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced a criminal indictment against him, making him the first former president to face criminal prosecution.

Tracy Smolin, who posed for a photo with two middle fingers outside Trump Tower, said the news is still hard to believe.

“My cousin texted me like, ‘Go and see if there’s people and riots!’ … There’s three people. They’re over it,” she said. “It’s been going on for so long … We’re still hopeful that something will happen … I feel very disillusioned from the whole process, but I want to see him arrested for the things that he’s done.”

Outside Manhattan Criminal Court, where the indictment was filed, throngs of reporters crowded outside the doors hoping for a glimpse of Mr Bragg. But there were no crowds of Trump supporters to defend the former president’s proclaimed innocence.

“I’m here to celebrate a great day in American history,” said Robert Hoatson, who held signs reading “LOCK HIM UP” and “THROW AWAY THE KEY.”

Em Ingram, a 20-year-old New York University student who lives just across the street from the court, said she has been waiting every day for news of an indictment since Mr Trump predicted his imminent arrest on 17 March.

“I think that this is one of the less important things that they could have focused as the first thing to indict them for, so I have some mixed feelings. But I think it, it needed to happen,” she said. “I think there’s definitely the potential that this will backfire and spur even more pro-Trump sentiment, but at the same time, he’s a criminal and that’s very clear to me and I think that’s very clear to a lot of Americans at this point.”

“I thought [his supporters] would be packed here, protesting. But I think people are getting the message. He talked about destruction and death possibly after he was indicted, but I think people are – hopefully – becoming more wise to his total insanity,” Mr Hoatson said.

“New York is a Democratic city so I think New York is gonna be thrilled,” he added. “I’d love to see the perp walk. I’d love to be in the courtroom if that’s possible. And I’d love to see him writhe and wriggle.”

Outside Trump Tower, Susan Cohen said a criminal indictment against Mr Trump is long overdue, “not just now but from over decades,” pointing to long-running allegations of real estate fraud and malfeasance and accusations of sexual assault.

“I think that’s where there is Trump fatigue, if you want to talk about Trump fatigue,” she said. “Everyone calls him Teflon Don because he gets away with this.”

Thank you. I don't know who Stormy Daniels is, but sounds good to me.

THAT's my job.

Thank you. I don't know who Stormy Daniels is, but sounds good to me.

Apparently she is a porn actress but, most relevant, someone Trump had an affair with, that he paid hush money to to keep that affair quiet, then misreported the payment on a business filing.

Tangled webs, indeed.

I am not being difficult, but was it an affair or just sex?

The legal system can't allow itself to be intimidated by malcontents. And from what I understand, many MAGA types are beginning to realize that Trump never had their back, and tossed them away once he was done using them.

In 2016, adult film star Stormy Daniels contacted media outlets offering to sell her account of what she said was an adulterous affair she had with Donald Trump in 2006 - the year after he married his current wife, Melania.

Mr Trump's team got wind of this, and his lawyer Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to Ms Daniels to keep quiet. This is not illegal.

However, when Mr Trump reimbursed his lawyer, the record for the payment says it was for legal fees. Prosecutors say this amounts to Mr Trump falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanour - a criminal offence - in New York.

Prosecutors could also potentially allege that this breaks election law, because his attempt to hide his payments to Ms Daniels were motivated by not wanting voters to know he had an affair with her.

Covering up a crime by falsifying records would be a felony, which is a more serious charge. Even advocates for prosecution acknowledge that either way, this is by no means a clear-cut case.

A prison sentence, of course, has always barred people from holding political power later in life

Debs ran for president in the 1920 election while imprisoned in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. He received 919,799 votes (3.4 percent), slightly less than he had won in 1912, when he received 6 percent, the highest number of votes for a Socialist Party presidential candidate in the United States.

Astonishingly, apparently not - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-2024 ... president/ (among others)
"If you're convicted of a felony and incarcerated, you can't vote, but you can win the election"

See: Eugene V. Debs -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_V._Debs