as a megalib lawyer this is my assessment. they indicted for political effect with legal basis selected for messaging rather than prosecutorial success.
but it doesn't matter because the real case is with special counsel jack smith. it is important to manage expectations on this one and not allow a likely prosecution fail to muddy water about very real high crimes committed by trump.
Jack Smith is a total haack. His pr0secution of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell was overturned 9-0 by the Supreme Court.
McDonnell actually did everything he was accused of though. That was never really in dispute. The SC decided that taking money from people who want political favors is legal so long as you're not stahoopud enough to put the quid pro quo in writing.
Jack Smith is a total haack. His pr0secution of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell was overturned 9-0 by the Supreme Court.
Then I suppose that would make T.rump super-lucky that the DoJ was stoopid enough to pick such a hack to investigate potentially quite serious criminal charges against him.
they can get him for business record falsification, but a second degree charge for that is not enough for felony charge in new york. they need to combine that with any number of specific intent crimes that will be hard to prove.
they indicted for political effectAs an actual lawyer, I strongly disagree.
But the fact is that they don't make toddler sized handcuffs so nothing will ever happen to him.
Legally speaking, OP might be right. But the real motivation here is political. This is just one step in making sure Biden wins reelection. According to WSJ:
"Indictment Could Boost GOP Primary Bid but Hurt a Rematch With Biden.
The former president’s supporters have rallied to his side, but swing voters might be repelled by latest legal controversy."
as a megalib lawyer this is my assessment. they indicted for political effect with legal basis selected for messaging rather than prosecutorial success.
but it doesn't matter because the real case is with special counsel jack smith. it is important to manage expectations on this one and not allow a likely prosecution fail to muddy water about very real high crimes committed by trump.
Cohen went to jail for the thing T is indicted for. Even though the crime occurred at the behest of and to the sole benefit of T.
Justice will be served.
the tricky thing with campaign finance charge in this case is that the prosecutor needs to prove a specific intent, hiding payment for campaign purpose rather than personal or familial.
it's like the edwards case that hung.
i still support indicting him btw it's just that this one may end up with merely a misdemeanor conviction.