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Breaking: Bragg Indicts Trump (Update: Trump Responds)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted President Trump late Thursday. This is the first time any president has been charged in a criminal matter.
During Bragg’s campaign, he promised to indict Trump, a fact that many legal experts believe could harm any chance of conviction. Though the specifics remain under seal, the indictment follows an investigation centering on a $130,000 payment made by Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 and served time for charges related to campaign finance violations and tax fraud. He claimed that Trump directed him to make the payment and that Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments that included a bonus.
The grand jury in the case was not scheduled to reconvene until late April. Bragg still had the power to call for a vote on the indictment even though they were not in session.
Bragg’s obvious political agenda isn’t the only fact hampering a conviction.
The charge likely focuses on falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanor. Even if Bragg is able to shift that up to a felony, New York’s statute of limitations for most felonies is five years, making this case two years too late.
Update (6:27 p.m. ET): Trump just issued a statement.
I’m trying to recall Biden getting any resistance from his party. I certainly don’t see any.
Whereas after the 2016 election, Republicans worked hard to distance themselves from the Bad Orange Man. Again, Paul Ryan is chief of sinners in this area.
We don’t follow the opposition like we follow our own. We don’t notice it. But let me put forth the names of Senators Manchin and Sinema. I know Libs that hate them.
I don’t see them working against Biden. Also, it’s not like either of them are majority leaders who actually COULD work against Biden. They’re just part of the gang.
Manchin repeatedly gets rolled by his own party.
You may not see it as acting against their president but I know Libs that want them thrown out of the party.
I agree. Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney as well as Mitch McConnell did nothing to show support during the false Russia accusations that nearly brought the government to a halt even though we had majorities in the House and Senate for the first two years. It was and still is frustrating to watch. On the other hand, former Dem leader Nancy Pelosi solidly backs her people regardless of the craziness coming out of the White House.
Mitt Romney is particularly nasty: comes running to Trump begging to be made Secretary of State, and when he doesn’t get the job, immediately starts stabbing Trump in the back. A petty, venal, vindictive man.
I hope the next time he’s up for re-election he gets send packing.
At the risk of rehashing, I look foremost at the defection of Paul Ryan when it mattered. There’s a reason that we got next to nothing for our brief trifecta. Indeed, there’s a reason it was brief. The Republican party was split (and still is) as it never has been before.
The “Hold your nose and vote” crowd did neither. They joined the Democrat war against a sitting President, and ultimately acquiesced in a coup.
Leadership positions come with responsibility. Paul Ryan should have stood with his President.
Byron York had an interesting podcast episode after the debate for Senator in Utah. McMuffin was claiming that Lee was a rubber stamp for Trump and Lee rebutted it with he was one of the senators who was least likely to vote with Trump. Byron was surprised at the statement and looked into it. For the definition of “votes with the President” the survey used, Lee was a high seventies percent. Rand Paul and someone else were the only ones lower. There was one person at 100% and that was the relative new guy from Alabama. Most were in the eighties.
Byron decided to look at the Democrats and Biden. Granted it was about half the time compared to Trump, but something like 14 Senators voted 100% with Biden. Manchin was the lowest at somewhere in the 80s and maybe Sinema was the only other Senator in the 80s.
Thanks