LOS ANGELES.–Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, 50, was given the green light by Judge Juan Merchan that the hush money trial of 77-year-old President Donald Trump is set to begin April 15. Judge Merchan brushed aside any of Trump’s last minute motions to have the case dismissed, serving notice to Trump’s lawyers that jury selection could start in three weeks. Trump was charged April 4, 2023 with 34 felonies, ordinarily charged as misdemeanors, for bookkeeping errors related to a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels AKA Stephanie Clifford, by Trump former attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen, who was disbarred and convicted of various felonies, including campaign finance law violations, income tax evasions, illegal sale of New York City taxi medallions, money laundering, bank and wire fraud, now serves as Bragg’s star witness.
Cohen is not only Bragg’s star witness but a popular pundit on CNN, MSNBC and other anti-Trump media, talking openly about Trump’s alleged crimes related to paying off Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Stormy Daniels threatened to go public with an alleged affair with Trump in 2006, 10 years before he ran for president. Bragg contends in his 34 felonies that the Trump Organization improperly documented the payment to Stormy Daniels, using it as a tax write off for legal services paid to Cohen. Cohen made the payment directly to Stormy and was reimbursed by former Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg was convicted of tax fraud Jan. 10, 2023 and then plead guilty to perjury March 4, 2024, all implicating the Trump Organization. Now Cohen, who served three years in prison, becomes Bragg’s star witness against Trump.
Trump’s lawyers wanted a delay to evaluate, through reciprocal discovery, Bragg’s evidence against Trump given by Cohen. Since charged, convicted in 2017 of numerous felonies, Cohen completed his three-year sentenced and was released Nov. 22, 2021, has been on a retribution campaign against Trump, appearing on untold numbers of anti-Trump news and talk shows denouncing his former boss. How Bragg can used a convicted felon as his key witness against Trump is anyone’s guess. Most witnesses with a criminal history and ax to grind don’t sit well with juries trying to sort out facts from fiction in any legal proceeding. Bragg will have a lot of explaining to do why he ran for Manhattan DA on a platform of prosecuting Trump. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., retired Dec. 31, 2021, refused to prosecute Trump citing a lack of credible evidence.
Bragg thinks he can sell a jury on Cohen’s testimony, when the lion’s share of Cohen’s convictions, were not related to his work with Trump or the Trump Organization. Bragg knows there’s already case law about presidential candidates paying off former mistresses. Democrat Presidential candidate Gary Hart was derailed in 1988 months after the Miami Heraald released a story about Hart’s past affair and payment to Donna Rice to remain silent about her alleged affair. Hart was acquitted of any campaign finance violations when a jury found that he tried to spare his wife embarrassment, not his presidential campaign. Whether Trump’s trial goes that way or not, Bragg upgraded bookkeeping errors to Class 3 felonies, something highly unusual for the kind of accounting errors seen in the case. Cohen’s new obsession since getting out of prison in 2021 is taking down Trump.
Whatever bookkeeping errors Bragg can show related to any payments to Stormy Daniels, it’s doubtful that a jury of Trump’s peers can find him guilty of any felonies related to payments to Stormy Daniels. Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche looks to go after Cohen’s credibility, certainly for his own multiple felony convictions, disbarment and jail time. Bragg has information about how the Trump organization reimbursed Cohen for paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s jury will no doubt hear about Cohen’s multiple felonies unrelated to his work for Trump, trying to evaluate his witness credibility before deciding to charge Trump. Bragg wants to convict Trump of felonies but he’ll have to explain to the jury why he upgraded Trump’s charges from misdemeanors to felonies. Trump’s attorneys should easily impeach Cohen’s credibility.
Democrats and the press hope that Bragg’s case against Trump will derail his 2024 presidential campaign. Whether he can get felony conviction or not, it’s certainly going to usurp Trump’s ability to campaign heading into the November election. Trump faces three other cases, two with Special Counsel Jack Smith, one for his involvement in Jan. 6, 2021 election interference and the other for harboring classified docs at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Whatever happens with Fulton County DA Fani Willis’s election interference racketeering case is anyone’s guess. Bragg becomes the next in line to get Trump before the Nov. 5 presidential election. It’s doubtful Trump can delay what should be a cut-and-dried case for the next six months. Bragg hoped to convict Trump on 34 Class 3 felonies for bookkeeping mistakes. If that gets tossed out, Trump should make the Nov. 5 election unscathed.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma
