On Thursday, May 30, 2024, at approximately 4:45 PM the jury in the Donald J. Trump false records case in New York City reached a verdict. Guilty! Guilty as charged on all 34 counts of the indictment. Donald Trump is now, and will always be forever a convicted felon, a criminal. The response from members of the Republican party was almost immediate. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a “shameful day in American history” and the charges were “purely political.” Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a “disgrace to the judicial system.” And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was “a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind.” “This verdict says more about the system than the allegations” said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. They are right about one thing, the justice system has been unfair, giving a great advantage to the rich and powerful like Donald Trump. How many average citizens have people sign NDA agreements like Trump had Stormy Daniels sign.
Let’s make one thing perfectly clear, this trial was not politically motivated by President Biden’s Justice Department. The case was brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg of Manhattan. It has absolutely nothing to do with President Biden. Another salacious claim by Republicans is that Bragg ran on the promise to get Donald Trump. He only said he would pursue the case if there was enough evidence to get a conviction. This case was not a new case. It had been kicked around by the previous DA Cyrus Vance Jr., and before that by U. S. Attorney Jeffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York. While Attorney Berman was investigating the charges he was harassed by the Trump Justice Department which wanted him to drop the case. Trump even asked him to resign, but he would not leave, so Trump hired Attorney General Bill Barr who fired him. The case went away. Remember, a Grand Jury found that there was probable cause to indict Donald Trump, and finally Trump was found guilty by a 12 member jury of his peers. He was not railroaded by a kangaroo court.
Above are just a few of the many salacious covers published by the “National Enquirer” during the 2016 presidential campaign. They are not evidence, but examples of the garbage churned out by David Pecker during the campaign. While most Republicans are outraged at the outcome of the trial, the results of the trial are proof that the system works equally for everyone. Below are the key elements from the testimony that sealed Trump’s fate: First publisher David Pecker recalled a meeting between Michael Cohen, himself, and Donald Trump in Trump Tower in which Trump gave the okay to kill the doorman story as well as the Karen McDougal story which Pecker did by paying a total of $180,000 to catch and kill. However, when it came to Stormy Daniels Pecker wanted no part of dealing with a porn star, and besides Trump never reimbursed him. Michael Cohen testimony confirmed the plot. You would have to believe that a tight wad like Michael Cohen would have laid out $130,000 out of his pocket without having any reassurance from Trump that he would be reimbursed by a man who had just stiffed David Pecker out of $180,000.
When it came to Stormy Daniels Michael Cohen took out a mortgage on his house to pay her $130,00. He then was reimbursed by Donald Trump for some $420,000 which included money to cover his taxes and a bonus of $60,000. The money was paid by a series of 11 checks, 1 for $70,000, and 10 other checks for $35,000 paid in monthly installments which were feloniously recorded as legal expenses. This transaction was revealed in a note from Trump CFO Alan Weisselberg. After the Access Hollywood video was broadcast the Trump campaign went into a full panic mode which was confirmed by Hope Hicks. This led to Daniels’ payment. That is the story in a nutshell.