{"id":566871,"date":"2023-03-21T22:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T19:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ny-da-alvin-bragg-could-eye-various-charges-in-trump-prosecution\/"},"modified":"2023-03-21T22:20:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T19:20:00","slug":"ny-da-alvin-bragg-could-eye-various-charges-in-trump-prosecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ny-da-alvin-bragg-could-eye-various-charges-in-trump-prosecution\/","title":{"rendered":"#NY DA Alvin Bragg could eye various charges in Trump prosecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23a3ba30da0\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23a3ba30da0\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ny-da-alvin-bragg-could-eye-various-charges-in-trump-prosecution\/#NY_DA_Alvin_Bragg_could_eye_various_charges_in_Trump_prosecution\" >NY DA Alvin Bragg could eye various charges in Trump prosecution<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"NY_DA_Alvin_Bragg_could_eye_various_charges_in_Trump_prosecution\"><\/span>NY DA Alvin Bragg could eye various charges in Trump prosecution<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p>Former President Trump could face a wide variety of charges if he is indicted in connection with an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) over his role in organizing hush-money payments to an adult-film star.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump has said he expects to be arrested soon in the probe, which comes after his fixer, Michael Cohen, made a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election as she was prepared to go public with a story about her sexual relationship with Trump \u2014 an affair he denies.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Hush-money payments themselves are not illegal. But it\u2019s the manner in which Trump and Cohen concealed the payments that resulted in jail time for Trump\u2019s former attorney and could also mean legal trouble for Trump himself.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen used a home equity line of credit in order to pay Daniels, making the payment shortly before the 2016 election to quash a story alleging an affair a decade earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Trump reimbursed Cohen in monthly installments couched\u00a0as payments for legal services,\u00a0and it was never disclosed as a campaign expense.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The arrangement spurred federal prosecutors to go after Cohen, who\u00a0pleaded guilty\u00a0and ultimately served jail time on charges related to campaign finance violations as well as tax fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Bragg picked up the case after the Justice Department declined to prosecute Trump while he was in office, pointing to internal guidance limiting prosecuting of a sitting president. Bragg\u2019s prosecution would rely on state statutes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat seems unfair, right, that Cohen went to prison for something that he was directed to do and the actual ringleader in this case would escape any prosecution,\u201d said Joshua Stanton, an attorney with Perry Guha, who recently penned an analysis of the case.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cAt the state level, though, there are more factual and legal risks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Legal observers suggest an indictment of Trump would likely focus on charges of falsifying business records, but bumping that up from the misdemeanor to a felony could prove difficult.<\/p>\n<p>A felony charge requires a connection to a second crime and would augment the maximum jail time from one year to four years.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>State laws prohibit making \u201ca false entry in the business records of an enterprise\u201d \u2014 something Trump and Cohen may have violated by claiming the payments were for legal services that were never rendered.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not an uncommon charge by New York prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/85605\/survey-of-past-new-york-felony-prosecutions-for-falsifying-business-records\/\">review<\/a>\u00a0of 15 years of criminal cases found the statute has been used in a variety of cases where business owners falsified records in an effort to dodge taxes, gain workers compensation or obtain unemployment benefits.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>In January, Bragg\u2019s office\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manhattanda.org\/d-a-bragg-announces-indictment-in-multi-million-dollar-cash-payroll-insurance-fraud\/\">indicted a carpentry company owner<\/a>\u00a0on the felony charge by connecting the allegedly falsified records to insurance fraud and conspiracy charges.<\/p>\n<p>But attempting to upgrade falsification of business records to a felony by connecting the hush-money payment to Cohen\u2019s campaign finance violation \u2014 a federal crime \u2014 would get into tricky territory for a local prosecutor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though Cohen pleaded guilty to making excessive campaign contributions \u2014 a sign the Justice Department viewed the payment to Daniels as a campaign expense \u2014 connecting them to this case would kick off wrangling over whether any federal campaign violations could be considered an \u201coffense\u201d under New York law.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t see it as a concern because the statute does not require that it be a state crime. It just says intent to commit another crime,\u201d said Anna Cominsky, director of New York Law School\u2019s Criminal Defense Clinic.<\/p>\n<p>Bragg has a number of state statutes, like state tax and campaign finance laws, at his disposal for a potential prosecution of Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If he pursues the tax route, Bragg would likely look to see if Trump took a tax deduction on the reimbursements by deeming them a legal expense.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4637\" height=\"3093\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?w=900\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3852365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg 4637w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=1079,720 1079w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=1536,1025 1536w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=2048,1366 2048w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=645,430 645w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=50,33 50w, https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/f6e1e07db9534f12ad8ed591b549a9b8.jpg?resize=876,584 876w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 899px) 100vw, 876px\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg exits the courtroom after the jury found the Trump Organization guilty on all counts in a criminal tax fraud case, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo\/Julia Nikhinson, File)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf that was taken as a deduction as a business expense for paying legal fees by Donald Trump, that could be false statements on his taxes. We don\u2019t know all the facts on that, but that might be actually easier to prove than some of the campaign finance offenses,\u201d said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which penned a memo on a potential prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>Pursuing a felony through state campaign laws could present other complications. State campaign finance laws are\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/cfr\/text\/11\/108.7\">preempted<\/a>\u00a0when federal campaign finance provisions <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>While state law bars any evasion of campaign contribution limits, using those statutes is not straightforward, as another campaign finance statute deems that they \u201cshall not apply to any candidate\u201d when they are also required to file statements at the federal level.<\/p>\n<p>That leaves a statute barring \u201cconspiracy to promote or prevent election,\u201d something experts say Trump may have violated, as well as a catch-all statute in New York code for election violations \u201cnot specifically covered\u201d elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trick here is that we\u2019re guessing,\u201d Cominsky said of the potential charges. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what has actually been presented to the grand jury.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bookbinder said without seeing the evidence, it\u2019s difficult to know whether tax or campaign charges provide a better pathway. Still, he noted Bragg\u2019s slow and steady pursuit of the case suggests he wouldn\u2019t move forward without carefully weighing each of Trump\u2019s possible defenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt seems like there were federal criminal offenses. The Department of Justice didn\u2019t pursue them, in part because you had Attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a> Bill Barr who was doing a lot of things that served Donald Trump\u2019s interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you have the Manhattan D.A. coming in and trying to figure out if there\u2019s something here that can be brought at the state level. And that\u2019s where we\u2019re having to do a fair amount of guesswork. My general feeling is that he wouldn\u2019t be going forward unless he had really good evidence to sort of overcome the defenses on at least one of those theories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump has dismissed the validity of any potential charges brought against him, writing repeatedly on his <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> site that \u201cTHERE WAS NO CRIME!!!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no \u2018misdemeanor\u2019 here either,\u201d he said in another post.<\/p>\n<p>Although convening a grand jury suggests Bragg\u2019s office is eyeing a felony, it is possible that Bragg could settle on just pursuing misdemeanor charges for Trump.<\/p>\n<p>If the grand jury finds there wasn\u2019t enough evidence for the felony, they could also direct Bragg to file a misdemeanor instead.<\/p>\n<p>Stanton pushed back on the idea from some commentators that \u201cyou shouldn\u2019t just charge Trump with a misdemeanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if it is just a misdemeanor in the end, this is still a big deal. Because like, that\u2019s the thing that most people get charged with in the criminal legal system,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s reasonable to say, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s political retribution.\u2019 Or like, \u2018This must be politically motivated just to charge him with a misdemeanor.\u2019 I\u2019d say it\u2019s exactly the opposite. It would be treating him differently not to charge a misdemeanor when anybody else, when there\u2019s evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed a misdemeanor, gets charged.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/3910851-nyda-alvin-bragg-could-eye-various-charges-in-trump-prosecution\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NY DA Alvin Bragg could eye various charges in Trump prosecution Former President Trump could face a wide variety of charges if he is indicted in connection with an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) over his role in organizing hush-money payments to an adult-film star.\u00a0 Trump has said he expects to be&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":566872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/03\/Bragg_020723_AP_Seth-Wenig.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[123566,134343,134418,139529,4941,134447,73014,90482,141570,70857,3885,70289,74603],"class_list":["post-566871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-alvin-bragg","tag-campaign","tag-congress-blog","tag-defense-national-security","tag-donald-trump","tag-energy-and-environment","tag-health-care","tag-house","tag-hush-money","tag-michael-cohen","tag-new-york","tag-senate","tag-stormy-daniels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}