We'll have to see if all those off-duty cops decide to riot again.
Rioters?! Noooo… you have it all wrong. They were all simply sightseers.
His tweets are pretty concerning given his history. He has every right to defend himself, but phrases like “protest, take back America” might not age well.
I have listened to legal experts on both sides of this. I think everyone agrees the evidence for him falsely reporting taxes, which is a misdemeanor. The legal strategy to flip this into a felony may be be a bit of a stretch. Saying that paying off Stormy Daniels was a campaign expenditure because it helped his prospects is a slippery slope- almost definitely at a minimum the campaign was part of the reasoning. There are at least a few reasons I can think of why he also might have paid her off.
It seems to me this opens a very wide door for what is considered to benefit a campaign. Would that make Clinton’s Foundation donations a violation because it earned her compassion points? If a candidate has Botox to look younger or “more attractive” how does that factor in? I have no idea.
My concern as someone who does not want to see Trump re-elected is that if this case falls apart, it will bolster his “witch-hunt” narrative and rally his supporters. Just like after impeachments, FBI raid, etc. Not to mention tricking unsavvy people into thinking he’s maybe not that bad of a guy. A failed prosecution could end up helping him.
On top of that you have the complication of Michael Cohen. I don’t think he’s lying in this case, at least not in a substantial way, but he has so little credibility, has no integrity, and is an obvious grifter. I am sure he will be shredded by the defense. Who knows what a jury will think. Plus in general those of stature who against Trump talking about the case I think need to be careful about saying things like we’re going to get him on this little thing because we know he’s guilty of these other things. Ideally he should be prosecuted for those greater crimes and not stretching the laws to fit a goal.
I believe there are more than likely far worse things Trump is guilty of that he could be cleanly prosecuted on. The timing of this case is unfortunate because if he wins, it undermines the more serious investigations as more of the same “trumped up” cases, even if they are not.
Even if he is found guilty of a felon here and loses on appeal, AFAIK that would not affect his ability to run for office. And I cannot imagine he would go to jail for this, especially given how much the laws are being stretched to begin with.
