Opinion/Politics
By George Miller, 5-30-24
As I was preparing to leave the office for a meeting this evening, a bulletin flashed up on my screen that the NYC Trump hush money payment trial jury had reached a verdict. As I was leaving, I saw on my phone that after a very rapid deliberation period for such a complex, politically charged and controversial case, the uber- “Progressive” Manhattan jury had decided on guilt for all 34 counts.
It quickly became the main topic of conversation at the pre-meeting social- heavily weighted with Conservative, well-heeled homeowners- not all Trump supporters. There was some shock, but the overall mood was anger and disgust that this was happening- could happen- in the USA. which is acting like a banana republic. The Left is ecstatic tonight- but they seemingly have no idea yet what they have wrought.
I’m wondering if we will soon be under martial law (I’m only half-joking here).
We classified this article as political opinion rather than Law Enforcement, since this case is political “Lawfare” and has little semblance of justice.
Aside from the fact that these are the first ever felony charges and conviction of a President or former President of the USA, the case is fraught with fatal flaws. It is an incredible stretch. Allow me to enumerate some….
~ The prosecutor is a rabid Trump-hater and is Soros-backed.
~ The judge obviously hates Trump and has usually ruled against him even on matters where legal experts of various political persuasions (Alan Dershowitz comes to mind) have said the case isn’t valid, is unprecedented, even absurd- 3rd world stuff.
~ The judge’s daughter is a far left political operator/fundraiser leveraging the case to raise many millions of dollars for Democrats/Biden- but no judicial recusal occurred.
~ The judge who was supposed to be randomly selected has presided over all the Trump related cases- a statistical near impossibility if procedure was followed.
~ The Manhattan venue was hand-picked, as one of the most far-left Trump hating areas in the nation, making the jury pool highly skewed against Trump and Republicans in general.
~ According to legal experts, key exculpatory evidence and witnesses were disallowed or severely restricted by the judge. The judge made multiple prejudicial statements and even made harmful guilty “rulings” along the way, while lacking evidence, due process or a jury.
~ It was claimed that the payments and non-disclosure agreement were election tampering since it was allegedly designed to withhold information from voters, which would illegally influence the outcome of the election. Interesting, since there was no proof that Trump made the payment or ordered it, no proof that he even ever harassed or raped Stormy Daniels, who cannot pin down the date or any specifics and never made any complaint or charge until the election loomed- how convenient. Hush money payments are not illegal. As far as we know, it is not illegal to book legal expenses… as legal expenses. We are told that the invalid charges of illegal payments are said to be against a federal law, which NY courts have no jurisdiction over. The underlying alleged misdemeanors were considered and rejected before being revived by the corrupt NY prosecutor.
~ Interesting that no one was ever charged, indicted, or tried for the crime of suppressing the bombshell Hunter Biden Laptop, which the Biden FBI knew was valid, yet they suppressed it and lied about it, or any of the phony Trump-Russia accusations, which the FBI knew were phony, which influenced the election outcome far more. I won’t even get into the massive election fraud which went mostly unpunished and denied, denied, denied.
~ The judge forced Trump to sit through the entire trial, to humiliate him and get him off the campaign trail. We know that didn’t work, since Trump managed to pull off historic rallies, speeches and photo ops during the trial period.
~ Testimony focused on sensational, prurient content. A porn star and proven liar and convicted felon were the star witnesses. The case was actually about the allowability and accounting for payments, all of which were financed by the candidate himself. The prosecutor did not identify what the underlying supposed crime was and actually gave the jury members the option of independently determining it for themselves- truly a judicial marvel.
~ The jury instructions, which were only produced just before the jury went into deliberations, with no time for the defense to absorb and object to, are 55 pages seemingly designed to help ensure conviction.
~ Through all this, Trump’s poll numbers and donations have soared, indicating that he has a lot of public sympathy and/or people have seen through this fraudulent prosecution.
~ All of these things make the case eminently appealable. With sentencing coming up on July 11, this handicaps the Trump campaign and even raises the possibility of his imprisonment- by design. It is unclear whether serving the sentence would be deferred until appeal, which is virtually inevitable,
There are still two more cases- and many charges- outstanding against Trump. There is the Georgia election fraud case- which is truly ironic, given what happened there in 2020, deeply flawed also and the documents case, which is tied down in legal controversy, may not be heard before the election and is greatly exceeded by Biden’s own offenses there and possibly Obama’s. Trump claims that he acted within the Presidential Records Act, which Biden cannot use.
I and many others have lost most of what little respect we had for the justice system, which has been sliding downward for years. That could be fatal to our system and peace in our nation. This case also sets a horrible precedents for future officials, who can be intimidated, harassed and punished in this manner. These precedents could also endanger private Citizens as well. We will see if the system will self-correct or instead fly off on this awful tangent.
We know that if one man’s rights are denied, the rights of all others are endangered”— Robert F. Kennedy
FL Gov. Ron DeSantis:
Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to “get” Donald Trump. That this case—involving alleged misdemeanor business records violations from nearly a decade ago—was even brought is a testament to the political debasement of the justice system in places like New York City. This is especially true considering this same district attorney routinely excuses criminal conduct in a way that has endangered law-abiding citizens in his jurisdiction. It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law. If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been brought, the judge would have never issued similar rulings, and the jury would have never returned a guilty verdict.
Rick Scott:
This was a sham trial and the clearest example we’ve ever seen of election interference. I am furious and no American is safe from Democrat political persecution. Joe Biden and the Democrat machine manufactured a legal case against Trump to win an election. I went to New York to stand with President Trump and the American voters will stand with him this November.
FL US Sen. Marco Rubio:
The verdict in New York is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our system of justice A political show trial conducted by an openly pro-Biden judge whose daughter makes money off the case, a jury from the most liberal county in America, absurd and ridiculous charges and outrageous jury instructions that guaranteed guilty verdicts. Biden and the Trump deranged left will stop at nothing to remain in power
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL):
This verdict is the corrupt result of a corrupt trial, a corrupt judge, and a corrupt DA. We will stand with President Trump now more than ever to save the country.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (FL)
This verdict is a disaster for New York City, the State of New York, & our nation. People will see this political prosecution for what it is. Remember this in November.
George Miller is Publisher and Co-Founder of Citizens Journal Florida, based in Fernandina Beach. He is a “retired” operations management consultant, software and publishing executive (10 years) and manufacturing management professional.
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
