Four Things To Know About Trump’s Upcoming Election Interference Trial In New York
Keep your eyes on the upcoming 2016 election interference/hush money trial of former President Donald Trump. It may be the sleeper of the four criminal cases pending against him.
The case involves a 34-felony count indictment brought against Trump by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg and a grand jury of his peers. Scheduled to begin on March 25, it’s expected to be the first of the four Trump criminal cases to go to trial.
Here are four things to keep in mind as the trial unfolds.
1) This is not just a simple hush money case.
It’s also a case about Trump’s attempt to manipulate the results of the 2016 presidential election, by using under-the-table hush money payments he financed.
The case focuses on an alleged effort by Trump to pay hush money in October 2016 to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels in order to buy her silence about her affair with Trump.
If Daniels had gone public about her relationship with Trump, following closely after Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood interview, it could have had an impact on the results of the election – an election Trump won by a mere 80,000 votes in three states.
This effort to manipulate the 2016 presidential election turned out to be a forerunner to his later effort to manipulate and overturn the 2020 election. Trump has not been held accountable for either of these efforts and unless he is, attempts to rig future presidential elections may well become the norm.
2) Watch for Trump’s delaying tactics.
Trump has already tried to have the New York case dismissed or transferred to federal court. Both efforts were rejected.
Trump is expected to continue his delaying tactics as he tries to get this trial postponed until after the election. Unlike the federal January 6 and Mar-a-Lago documents cases, Trump would not have the power to get the New York (or the Georgia) case dismissed if elected, since these are state cases.
Trump’s efforts to get his trials postponed reflect the fact that polls show a criminal conviction is likely to decrease his voter support and might be the difference in the election.
3) If found guilty, Trump could get jail time.
The Manhattan case charges that Trump engaged in business fraud by treating hush money payments as legal expenses. Such violations would be misdemeanors under New York law and could include jail time.
However, Trump is alleged to have committed this fraud in furtherance of campaign finance violations. If the fraud is found to be in furtherance of another crime, the violations become felonies and those felonies are punishable by up to four years in prison.
4) The return of Michael Cohen.
Cohen, Trump’s former fixer, was convicted of campaign finance violations in connection with the hush money payments involved in this case. Cohen made these payments to Daniels on behalf of Trump.
In Cohen’s sentencing memo, the Justice Department said Cohen “acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election.” Cohen, the memo noted, admitted “he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1.”
Individual-1, we now know, is Donald Trump.
Cohen’s credibility as a witness will be attacked by Trump’s lawyers, who will remind the jury that Cohen is a convicted perjurer. Cohen’s expected testimony, however, is reportedly supported by corroborating testimony and witnesses.
Furthermore, in Trump’s recent civil trial for business fraud, which he lost, Judge Arthur Engoron noted that pleading guilty to perjury does not mean that you can never tell the truth. “Michael Cohen,” Judge Engoron stressed, “told the truth, in his testimony in this case.”
__________________________
Business fraud cases have been described as “the bread and butter” of the Manhattan DA’s office and DA Bragg will have a paper trail of receipts and other evidence that will tell the story of the fraud.
But, it’s about more than that. It is also about Trump’s dangerous efforts to interfere with the 2016 election.
As we know, this turned out to be Trump’s first – but not last – effort to manipulate an election and undermine our democracy for his personal political gain.
____________
Fred’s Weekly Note appears on Thursdays in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s and other recent newsletters here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
