Former U.S. President Donald Trump pled not guilty at his arraignment in Manhattan on 34, nearly identical felony charges related to falsifying business records “with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.”
This transparently political and legally ridiculous prosecution reminds this writer of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on bills of attainder — declarations of guilt outside the judicial process.
One might ask, tongue in cheek, whether Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg will be charged with making an illegal campaign contribution to Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, as the absurd charges brought by this DA, who has otherwise downgraded to misdemeanors more than half of the felonies his office has addressed, rely on novel legal theories.
As falsifying business records is itself only a misdemeanor, Bragg will have to prove that the falsification was carried out in furtherance of “another crime.” If that crime is related to campaign finance violations, considering hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and others as in effect being campaign expenses, Bragg stands alone in thinking so. As Jonathan Turley has written, “The Justice Department itself declined this prosecution and both the former chair of the Federal Election Commission and various election law experts have thrown shade on the theory.” The five-year statute of limitations, for example, would appear to be an insurmountable hurdle. And “Bragg will have to convince a court that Trump paid the hush money for the sole purpose of the election,” Turley notes. “As a married man and television celebrity, Trump had other reasons to try to avoid a scandal.”
