Novel Legal Theories in Trump's Persecution

 

Instructions from the White House to NY: "Get Trump"

The sideshow case in New York City is over for now. Trump is officially a felon.

 Without getting into the weeds of the case, the juries found him guilty…of something. It’s a convoluted case and I’m not sure I could explain it effectively. But it sounds like the New York Attorney’s General tried to show a “conspiracy” to commit a crime. The crime being the payment to Stormy Daniels, via Michael Cohen, to not talk about her and DJT’s alleged affair. Why is that a crime? Supposedly it’s a violation of campaign finance laws to list the payoff as “personal”. But the former president was never charged for violating campaign finance laws, back before the statue of limitations ran out.

Campaign Finance

The former head of the FEC (Federal Election Commission) Brad Smith has written in multiple places that no violation occurred. Campaign finance law has easy to understand rules in place.

“Would the money have been spent, whether the campaign existed or not?” is a baseline question. Only items related to the campaign (travel, equipment) count. Legal fees not related to the campaign are “personal” which is how Trump’s bookkeeper wrote them.

Smith was supposed to be an expert witness for the defense. But the vile, corrupt judge Merchan would’ve so limited the testimony that Trump’s team decided not to call him.

Effectively, Brad Smith would get to explain terms to the jury and not expound on them. Why wasn’t Trump charged for violating these federal campaign laws before? Because there is no crime, and any attempt to show criminality requires twisting yourself into a pretzel.

Novelties

A few of these blogs I’ve read said that Bragg is using a “novel” legal theory by linking Trump’s payments to Michael Cohen (a non-crime) to a larger “conspiracy” to affect an election. You should read “novel” as “bullshit”. It’s a nakedly political move to piece together a thin, legal theory and fill it with sound and fury.

If there is a silver lining it’s this, ordinary Americans can see how transparently corrupt it all is. And by extension they can see how the judicial system can be used to go after them. It’s a clear message from the deep state, stay in your lane or we’ll run you through the system. It’s called lawfare. It’s using the courts as a weapon, one that bleeds your energy and finances. Even if you win your case the expense and time committed to clearing your reputation will wear you out.

The Colorado cake baker, Jack Phillips was sued twice on religious grounds for refusing service. The first incident was for a gay couple. The second, a transgender (male to female) who wanted a cake celebrating his mental disability. Jack won the first case and lost the second.

But wins and losses are beside the point when the court costs start to add up. You’re not in the business of business anymore when the legal wrangling starts. After years of motions, appeals and requests, most people want to avoid a courthouse like a class on novel legal theories. Sadly, the hospital is where a lot end up. The pettiness inherent in lawfare is the point. The vicious and well-funded opposition forces have money and time on their side. Don’t tell me you think a transgender walked into Jack’s cake shop randomly. It’s warfare and no one is safe. That’s partly why there is so much attention from American citizens on these Trump cases. We’re smart enough to realize how this whole crooked affair affects the rest of us. We voted for him after all. This lawfare is the deep state’s attempt to invalidate our choice.

Hardball

Elected Republicans need to start playing hard ball at the state level. If you’re a former elected Democrat or a big donor to the DNC, you should be very worried. Attorney’s Generals in red states need to start dragging them through the legal mud on thin charges. Better yet, pick at least 6 or 7 high profile democrats in red states to practice “novel” legal theories on. The charges can be as flimsy as possible since, as a country, we’re beyond the spirit of the law. Make sure the SWAT teams kick in some doors and trash a few offices. Bring the TV crews, create a scene. Talk at press conferences in big hokey terms about how ‘no one is above the law’.

The downside of playing their game is that the White House calls the shots. Federal departments can run roughshod over state governments. This is probably the biggest reason we haven’t seen a tough pushback from Republicans yet.

You won’t win that many cases but you’ll send a message to institutional Democrats that lawfare goes both ways. Republican voters won’t feel alienated by their own party either. They’ll actually feel like their leaders have their interests at heart instead of what we have now. Biden opens the borders, let’s in criminals, tells Americans they’re racists’ and uses his Justice Department to go after parents of school kids. Senator Lankford tries to sell us on a border bill. Thanks for nothing.

Conclusion

Will Republicans take my advice? Probably not, but I’m surprisingly optimistic about the next 10 years in America. I think we have some very dark days ahead in the next 3 to 4 years. Both politically and financially it feels like we’re spent. We’re waiting the for the repo man to take back the truck we haven’t paid on in 4 months. So far we’ve avoided him, but time is getting late. My reason for optimism comes from knowing that every institution in this country needs to be rebuilt. Only God can renew and rebuild a people and set them on a path toward righteousness, but first He has to level the field. He’s the ultimate judge of our souls.