“what’s going on in New York State with the weaponization of prosecutors’ offices both criminally and civilly is really troubling”
My appearance on The Legal Lowdown with with Imran H. Ansari, Esq.: “That’s the disparity between the Democrats and the Republicans when it comes to abuse of the law. It does set a really bad precedent, but it’s not a precedent that Democrats in New York State are the least bit worried about” because it won’t happen to them.
I appeared on The Legal Lowdown with Imran H. Ansari, Esq., to talk about Donald Trump’s various prosecutions and lawsuits.
We touched on themes of prosecutorial abuse similar to what I wrote about in Get Out of New York, If You Can.
[If player does not load, click here]
PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT (auto-generated, may contain transcription errors)
(This is very partial, I don’t have time to clean up a long transcript today, including the discussion of Trump’s appeals bond issue that came at the end. Be sure to listen to the whole thing)(time stamps are to mp3).
Ansari (01:45):
So, professor, let’s first talk about some of the issues that we are seeing with the former President Donald Trump… So what are your thoughts about that? Just this aspect that we have a leading presidential candidate, former president, who is undergoing really a legal attack on all fronts.
WAJ (03:24):
Well, I think that the overall impact of this is, it is a broad attempt to take down the leading Republican candidate, to either ruin him financially or to tie him up financially or to put him in prison, or to get him convicted. And I don’t think it’s any coincidence that this is all happening in an election year. Of the four prosecutions against him, criminal prosecutions, three of them clearly could have been brought two years ago because they’re based on things related to the 2020 election, but they waited until close to an election year where they filed the cases the year before the election, knowing it would run into the election year. So I don’t think you can look at the situation and say, it’s just coincidence, or, well, it’s his fault because he engaged, allegedly in criminal behavior. These were timed for an election year.
They wanted us to be talking in 2024 about prosecutions of Trump. Whether they happen, whether he gets convicted, it’s the hot topic. And so we’re spending time talking about that instead of our open border where thousands of criminals are coming across the border as jails get emptied in South America and Central America. So I think the big takeaway is there is a concerted effort, where prosecutors have abused, particularly in New York state, have abused their power for political purposes. And that includes the civil lawsuit by Letitia James. It includes what wasn’t a prosecution office, but it includes that ridiculous libel case against Trump, which I think will not be sustained, at least not the damages on appeal. So that’s the big takeaway, there is a concerted effort to take down Trump.
Ansari (05:21):
… you would think that if your motivation was a political motivation, then you would want to make sure that you have an ironclad case, otherwise you’re going to just end up feeding into what you’re trying to work against. Would you agree?
WAJ (06:19):
Well, that’s right. And it’s not just speculation that at least in the New York Manhattan criminal case and the New York Civil case were politically motivated. And we know that because the prosecutors told us that when they were running for office, that their goal is to get Trump. Letitia James was particularly open and effusive about how she wanted to get not only Donald Trump, but his family. That’s completely unseemly from a prosecutor. That’s an abusive prosecutorial power. And nobody in New York State really wants to talk about that, because for the most part, the media hates Donald Trump.
So it’s really quite something where you have people running their prosecution campaigns to become prosecutors, to get a specific person. That’s not supposed to happen. These are completely tainted. There should have been either an independent investigation or whatever it is, and we’ve seen that they have therefore stretched legal theories, which have held up in the state Supreme Court, which your listeners will know, is actually the lowest court, the trial court, so far.
But the theory in the Alvin Bragg prosecution is really novel and was criticized by a lot of liberal legal commentators, which is they took an old stale misdemeanor books and records violation and concocted a legal theory to turn it into a felony, so they could extend the statute of limitations. In the civil case, the Attorney General’s office used a civil statute that’s never been used in this way before. This is novel.
So you have two prosecutors saying they’re going to run for office to get Donald Trump. And in the case of Letitia James, his family also. Who then come up with stretched theories, which have held up at a trial court level so far, we’ll see if they hold up on appeal, but the appeals won’t be decided for a year or two or three. And so we’re not going to know during the presidential election whether they hold up on appeal or not. I don’t think they will, but we’ll find out.
So this is so abusive. It’s really terrible what’s happened, particularly in New York State. We can talk separately about the federal prosecutions, but what’s going on in New York State with the weaponization of prosecutors’ offices both criminally and civilly is really troubling, and it’s really something that people need to be talking more about.
Ansari (08:57):
You know, that’s great insight, professor Jacobson. I mean, I’m with you on all points there… But I think it’s a dangerous prospect because you’re gonna lose the faith of the public, and you’re also going to open up precedent where political offices may be used for, as you say, the weaponization of the prosecutorial agency and what we’ve seen here.
WAJ (10:02):
Yeah, but you know, in New York, they don’t have to worry about that. Democrats in New York do not have to worry about the weaponization being turned against them because they know it won’t happen. The Attorney general now is a Democrat, is a Trump hater. The prosecutirs in most of the counties are Democrats. So I hear this a lot and I understand it, that they are destroying the credibility of the court system, the credibility of the prosecutorial system, and it could come back to haunt them. But they know and we know it won’t. At least not in New York State. Now, perhaps if Red States started retaliating, maybe if they started doing this, but they probably won’t either. That’s the disparity between the Democrats and the Republicans when it comes to abuse of the law. So, yes, it does set a really bad precedent, but it’s not a precedent that Democrats in New York State are the least bit worried about.
***
Ansari (13:13):
…. Professor, let’s jump back into the discussion on the Trump cases, but I actually want to talk about ome news that came out of the Georgia case this week. So Fani Willis was facing disqualification, on motion by the defendants … And the judge rendered a decision this past week, and she is not going to be disqualified from that case. I want to get your thoughts on that.
WAJ (14:01):
That was a very bizarre decision by the judge. What he found was that there was an appearance of a conflict of interest between the two prosecutors, the lead county prosecutor, Fani Willis, and her lover, I forget his first name, Wade, who she hired, Nathan Wade, who she hired for this prosecution. And she funneled a lot of money to him, both through payroll and also they had some sort of arrangemen, very murky, with cash transactions. So he found that that created an appearance of impropriety. So far, so good.
But then he says he’s going to let them decide which of them drops out. Why would a judge do that, if there is an appearance of impropriety? They should both be gone. I mean, that was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, or one of the crazier things where a judge finds two people, in a prosecution, and it’s important that it’s a criminal prosecution, the two prosecutors have created the appearance of impropriety, and then he lets them decide which one gets kicked off the case.
It’s like if you found two people robbing a bank, would you say, well, you two decide which one of you gets prosecuted? That made no sense to me. They should have both been off the case….
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Short of impeaching that harridan Letitia James, Artie Engmoron, Alvin “I’m. Not Prosecuting Anybody” Braggadocio, which the spineless and corrupt Democrat-controlled New York legislature wouldn’t do with guns at their heads, what can be done, Mr. Jacobson?
Artie Engmoron is a blithering idiot with a neuromuscular disorder involving keeping his pants up and a cell phone away, and Letitia James has impulse and anger management issues like the Hulk (in her case, the Bulk). As for Willis, Wade and Waste in Georgia—that is one big mess the Georgia legislature needs to address with some constitutional amendments to their weirdo legal “system”.
Yes, communists are troubling. But have you see the mean tweets? I’m on the fence between subjugation and my offended sensibilities.
me too
and I don’t even look good in pearls
Shades of Tammany Hall with a leftist lean. New York ) the entire state) needs to be called out and boycotted for allowing these Soviet style political repressions. I don’t understand why any major business maintains offices in the Rotten Apple. Even New Jersey seems less hostile to business and freedom of thought.
Tammany Hall with a leftist ‘lean’?
The Democratic machine LEANED left?
The Soviet learned repression from Tweed.
I have long asked this question but never gotten an answer:
When in United States history was the last time that a single defendant was hit with 4 simultaneous indictments and trials in 4 different jurisdictions all at the same time (and we can add in this case, all laughably contrived prosecutions that have no basis, at all … but forget this last point for the main question)?? What other figure was hit by such a legal, nationwide, simultaneous blitzkreig?? EVER??
This is not “abuse of the law” or “weaponization of the justice department(s)”. Those are mild compared to what this is. This is a full out Act of War by the Democrats on America. True Acts of War. That is what this is. They are destroying America no matter what – whether they win these ridiculous cases or lose. They have been allowed to carry out their destruction. It can only get worse from here. UNLESS … those who are responsible for this war being waged against the nation, from the very top to the very bottom involved, are quickly arrested and punished severely for their treason.
You won’t get an answer from Conservative, Inc. They’re too busy with their noses in the air being snobs and prattling on about their principles, the Constitution, etc. Meanwhile, the communists run roughshod over the country.
On the bright side, right wingers are winning on the local level which will eventually lead to wins on a national level.
We can not win in national politics when states like New York and California are willing to cheat and exert power and influence on smaller states. We must actively call out New Yorkers and Californians for their corrupt politics that they allow to flourish in their respective states. It’s no wonder that vehicles with California plates get vandalized here in Montana. I no longer have sympathy for them.
Most of Conservative Inc. are also all-in with the Intel Community’s 30 year effort to use Ukraine to bring down and break up Russia. That is why the Deep State is all-in for Biden.
The answer is never, but there is a very simple reason this is happening to Trump because he committed a lot of crimes. Crimes that are well evidenced and have been indicted. The professors claims of persecution fall apart as soon as you look at the vast array if evidence on display.
LOL.
With a brain like that I’m surprised you can breathe without the aid of machines.
There is nothing simple in any of these cases. Classifying any of his actions as criminal requires a twisted interpretation of multiple laws, then stacking these twisted interpretations together to achieve a story that appears to be true. There is zero clarity in these matters and they have moved forward only because of the deranged minds of the power structure.
Don’t feed the troll.
Even if the New York Civil trial was valid. Normally the size of the judgement is based on how much money people lost because of the defendant. In this case that number was zero. The loans were paid with interest, all the insurance premiums were paid, the property taxes were paid. The banks and insurance companies who were supposedly defrauded said under oath that they were trying to get more business with him because he paid his bills on time. So where did the 454 million judgement come from? Well Trump says he has $500 million somewhere to use in the campaign. The 454 million judgement plus interest will come to just over 480 million bond he has to put up to appeal. So they effectively took 90% of his campaign funds. That just looks bad when it is friends of Biden doing it.
This is factually incorrect. The lenders could have charged higher interest had they known the true financial position so yes there was a loss. It’s also the case that Deutsche bank ditched Trump in 2021.
Trump doesn’t have the money for the bond let alone for the full judgement. Besides which Trump doesn’t spend his money on the campaign he defraud his supporters for that.
Please do try to be less ignorant
This is simply not true given the financial assessments used to determine the size and scope of the loans were all derived from the banks own independent financial anssessments completely separate of those provided by Trump.
Name one billionaire that has $450 million hanging around in cash? Most is illiquid.
Which lender claimed a loss based on this theory? Have any shareholders filed suit v the managers and directors of these lenders due to their inaction in seeking financial redress from Trump based on this theory?
If not and we all know the answer is not then it doesn’t seem as if the counter party lenders or the shareholders of those lenders feel they have a justifiable claim at law.
@mailman
No they were not, the judgement and witness testimony is completely at odds with your statement. Again, read the judgement I look forward to you providing evidence of your claim. Here is an excerpt fron the judgement
“Assumed that the representations of value of the assets and liabilities were “broadly accurate.”TT 1009-1010; PX 330.The Deutsche Bank Credit Report’s “Financial Analysis” is based onnumbers provided by the“family office” (here, the Trump Organization) and contains the samenumbers represented in the SFC. PX 293; TT 1010-1013”
@alaska Bob
1. I’m not clear what relevance how rich someone is in relation to what they owe back
2. Trump has claimed that he has at least $400m liquidity and rising although his lawyers statements to the appeals court say different.
3. Trump is supposed to have a lot of property in his ownership. If he were genuinely a billionaire that should be unencumbered property and thus could have mortgaged to gain liquidity. Alas this appears to be false, it seems likely that his property is encumbered by debt and rumour would have it quite a lot.
4. There are plenty of billionaires who are likely to have that kind of cash, I’d imagine that’s why he suddenly started speaking to Musk. Jared kushner might do after his shadey $2b deal with the Saudis but I guess he doesn’t want to bring attention to his own dubious activities.
Stop right there. The bond required is greater than the full judgment.
More ignorance. What kind of idiot of a businessman leaves assets just hanging around without leveraging them?
How do YOU know the lenders could have charged a higher interest rate? Deutsche Bank referred to Donald Trump as a hugely preferred customer, or a “whale” as is known in the banking industry. They repeated they would lend to him again and again because they were satisfied with their relationships.
Deutsche Bank’s withdrawal from US markets was due to its own unrelated problems in its securities businesses in the pandemic era, and certainly had nothing to do with the lending with Trump. They said they would do business with him again, because those loans were high performing and profitable for them.
Ever sit on a bank board of directors? I did, for 17 years. Unless you have that perspective, your opinions are meaningless.
The lenders almost certainly did know Trump’s true financial status. Do you think they’re dummies? Do you think they didn’t do their due diligence? Didn’t Trump warn them to not rely on his figures?
If the half billion dollars is legit, why didn’t the lenders sue Trump and go after it themselves? Banks do like money, yes?
“It isn’t so much that liberals are ignorant. It’s just that they know so many things that aren’t so.” ― Ronald Reagan
You are the poster boy for this.
Yes and generally to compensate a plaintiff, the standard is treble damages…so still $0
And herein lies the rub, those property tax assessments are determined by the value of those properties. So if Trump over valued his property prices then he over paid property taxes to the city.
If the judge is now saying that the value of Trumps various properties is, say, 30% of what Trump valued it at then Trump must be due some refunds…maybe to the value of around half a billion dollars?
This makes no sense, you do realise the representations to the tax man undervalued the properties right. That everyone is wondering why the tax man hasn’t indicted Trump for tax fraud.
In what alternate reality world do property owners get to determine the taxable value of their properties?
If anything, they might have to take the tax appraiser to court to prove he has overvalued them.
“This makes no sense, you do realise the representations to the tax man undervalued the properties right. That everyone is wondering why the tax man hasn’t indicted Trump for tax fraud.”
You really have no idea how any of this woks, do you?
You can’t even troll well.
Even more egregious is that the judge included transactions that the Appellate Division had previously ruled were outside of the statute of limitations and not to be included in the case, and he straight up defied their ruling and used those as around 3/4 of the penalty amount.
That’s not simple error, that is outright contempt.
Good point. I wonder what would happen if Trump posted bond equal to the portion of the judgment related to only the properties that the appeals court said could be included?
Here’s a Sharpie. The “L” and “R” on the toes of your shoes are starting wear off.
Interesting fact: During the Civil War, many recruits didn’t know the difference between “left” and “right.” So their instructors (what we would call “drill sergeants” today) tied smalls clumps of hay to their left feet, and small clumps of straw to their right feet. The recruits did know the difference between “hay” and “straw.” They were then marched to the call of “hay foot, straw foot, hay foot, straw foot.”
I see the Clown Brigade has checked in today.
I guess Mom removed the keyboard lock for you, FartE?
“Mate,” what’s hilarious is how obviously clueless foreign troll-bags like you act like you have any substantive take on the domestic politics of the USA. Here’s a clue “mate,” pompous condescending foreign jackasses like you don’t deserve any substantive reply to your smug fact-free takes. You’re an ass. I’ll let those with more patience tear you a new one on your alleged “facts” and watch you squirm like a little b word.
@thad jarvis
And yet I seem to have a far greater understanding of the facts than you. I’ve yet to see a coherent fact based retort. So when you try your pitiful attempts at insults maybe come up with a coherent sentence based in reality.
Such an expert. Replete with the facts. If Dan Goldman calls in sick, could there be a better substitute?
What an asinine comment.
Hmm….
Internationally renown accounting professors testified that no fraud had occurred, including one locally from New York who frequently testifies both for defendants and plaintiffs (including the State of New York) on forensic accounting matters. So, colonic warrior, what crime(s)?
The banks involved said Trump was a highly preferred/select customer whose business they desired because he paid his loans on time, his loans were always profitable and the banks always had their own appraisals of the properties done. They also added their own experts who said that real estate lending was a matter of coming to consensus between the low-ball value that bank appraisers frequently make and the higher values that real estate developers place on their properties to hammer out a fair deal and this was normal business practice. So again, anti-genius, WHAT crime(s)?
Facts, logic and rational discussion will gain you nothing with this TDS afflicted person/bot. It knows what it knows and nothing will shake it from its pursuit of “justice” (preferably in the form of Donald John Trump’s head on a pike at the entrance to the former Trump Tower).
Provide actual proof of the crimes, not mere talking points from Democrats and their media allies.
“… quickly arrested and punished severely for their treason.”
I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you, it would severely impact your longevity.
Ann Coulter has been saying for years that the Democrat party is a Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization. These prosecutions show that she’s right.
So? RICO isn’t a crime.
That would seem to be correct, according to Congress’ favorite bartender, AOC.
I was glad AOC (D-Bartender) straightened me out on that during the Bobulinski hearing. Now if someone would only inform Fanni of this we could put the political persecution in Georgia to rest.
Well…she did pass the Barista exam…..
they know all this is going to be reversed, why they filed so late
so the appeal will be way after the election
see Ted Stevens or Bob McDonnell
I don’t think that is the case. I think that everyone in the progressive echo chamber convinced themselves that they had demonized Trump to such an extent no-one would vote for him. When he started polling ahead of Biden in swing states and wouldn’t go away, they panicked and started filing lawsuits thinking that would turn everyone away from Trump. Now that that tactic has resulted in Trump tied or ahead in every swing state, gaining massive ground with Latino and Black voters they are in meltdown mode.
As Frank Luntz, no friend of Trump, stated the other day on CNN – if Tish James starts seizing his properties, she will have elected Trump President.
Luntz was deadly earnest when he delivered that warning. It was actually chilling to me, I can’t imagine how Dems hearing him reacted.
The Democrats hearing him ignored him, and with good reason. The Democrats know only one thing matters in the 2024 election – Turnout. If they can get the turnout of young women above 70% they are guaranteed to win. If they campaign on Abortion 24/7 to the suburban moms they are favored to win, but what they really need is the 18-30 women to all register and vote. Their best bet is for Kamala Harris to do a swing state tour with Taylor Swift and do free concerts every day.
If the Bragg case fails they will have one option – unleash another pandemic.
This is so true. We know the Democrats use these Soviet tactic perp walks and show trials yet we do nothing about it. Either we must start playing their game (which will lead to the destruction of the Republic ) or we must call out these Stalinist Prosecutors and embarrass them into retirement.
we will have to see how a lot Americans react to the next NYC 9-11
got a feeling the sympathy wont be quite as strong for the shithole
or for any other city outside of Miami
Ms James plans on riding this pony in the Gov Mansion
Her fat ass will kill the pony before she gets to Albany.
lmao
Her office is already in Albany – State Attorney General, not county D/A.
True, but she made herself a target, and it would be soo soo funny if some MAGA woman gets her at a campaign event. Hochul got a few terms left in her anyway before James can go for Governor.
It worked for the AG in MA and she just brought 40+ meaningless suits against Trump and now is Gov. You gotta have anti-Trump bonafides to get kicked upstairs now.
These are but death bed regrets Professor. “If only we’d had more time”.
The time to act was 2020, 2021. Now we’ve passed the fulcrum point.
Mark Levin opined that she should have been disbarred for even campaigning to “get Trump”, but the NYS bar is full of Ds.
Lawfare run amok.
A friend said “I tune out the second someone brings up Soro!”
I pointed out that Soros had written an op-ed saying “Yes, I am funding these AG’s and DA’s and will continue to do so”
He said “Where did you read that BS?”
I said “Um..the WP, the NYT, WSJ all published it”
We haven’t spoken since.
Not in a State where Democrats have a true supermajority.
Being left out of this beer crying is race. These outrageous prosecutions never would have been attempted with a white man at the helm. Affirmative action black lawyers were needed to deflect criticism.
“True dat”
Whatever you need to make yourself feel better, you gimp.
We can always bring back the rope.
That, or the blacks elected and appointed are now behaving like HNICs. In short, they are power-mad, and folded this in with a get-whitey mentality.
I think your correct. Combine this with the victim over anything and their Shield of Melanin Invincibility to stop them from ever being held accountable and you get a disaster in all levels of government from the affirmative action hire crowd.
They are going to restore justice even if it kills everyone of their “oppressors”.
Both.
This is how democracies become dictatorships. You eliminate any credible opposition so that there’s only one “choice”. The behavior here bears a disturbing resemblance to what Putin did to Navalny. It’s unlike.ly that this will be the last of this type of scheming, particularly if it’s successful. It’s a sad day for democracy.
Often said the Marxist who gets Trump’s head will have the keys to the Leftist’s kingdom
No. It’s a fools’ errand.
It that’s their only use to the machine, they’ll be tossed under the bus as soon as done. Notice how the visible true power brokers are not on point for any of the operations.
A higher court needs to intervene pronto– with very strong language.
Setting a monetary barrier which is both unaligned with the damages and unachievable path to appeal is denying access to the US Justice system AND in this instance very deliberate interference with a presidential election.
It’s blatant, flagrant, and a deliberate abortion of process.
Economically- I will sadly cheer the demise of the State of NY while they continue to vote for a Lenin/Stalinist form and action in government.
Everything which is evil must die before something good can replace it. These blue states must experience that economic death before they change.
Higher courts can’t just “intervene”. Cases must come to them through regular procedure, and usually cases must go the the State’s highest court before reaching SCOTUS.
One idea crossing my mind is: how much of this is Get Trump, and how much of this is Get Whitey? How much of this is racial? How much of this is – in the words of the fawned-over Thurgood Marshall – a case of “now it’s our turn?”.
I failed to add that one should look at the race of the majority of those
persecutingprosecuting these cases.I think it’s all “get Trump.” It’s just that many of those who could be found willing to skewer a white man were those who are racially disaffected. They would have been even more gung-ho if the target had been a race-traitor.
Assuming justice is done here, Trump should have an amazing restitution claim against New York State.
I can’t wait for him to take out his EO pen and declare Manhattan a National Monument.
He can’t. National Monuments can only be declared on federal government property.
Nuclear waste repository
Fixed it for ya.
I have a cheap and easy solution to solve the two tier justice problem being used to persecute anyone that doesn’t follow the propagandist agenda these WEF paid for micro tyrants have. It isn’t legal, but neither is what they are doing…
For Trump, it’s sad to say that the day the music died was the day when Lee Zeldin lost his gubernatorial bid.
None of this would have happened.
Nope. The same thing would have happened under Zeldin, because the governor has nothing to do with it and can do nothing to stop it. This is all James, not Hochul. Hochul is presumably happy with it, but it would make no difference if she weren’t.
James was on the ballot at the same time for AG. The Governor does matter, though, since the NY Governor appoints the highest appeals court judges and has pardon power. Zeldin lost because of Dobbs.
I wonder if there’s anything in the New York state constitution about bills of attainder. Seems like what this is in spirit, if not in letter.
No, there isn’t, but even if there were, how is this anything like a bill of attainder? Even in “spirit”, which of course cuts no ice.
It’s exactly like a Bill of Attainder, which is illegal and unconstitutional
OK I’ll say it:
Can you imagine being Latitia James?
Even for a day?
It really must be awful.
Perhaps I’m alone, but to me she seems like the uncle of Simba — Scar — just a miserable wretch, filled with envy, and self-doubt.
She has to realize that no one likes her and that no one expects her.
I think that that would be pretty unpleasant
respects
Not expects
Sorry
If Trump manages to win the election, after thanking all the usual people who helped, he should give a special “shout out” to AG James and DA Willis for their special “get out the vote” efforts.
This is a result of a view of the world that no longer sees Left or Right – even though they still use the labels – but as the Righteous Normal vs. the Evil Other.
That in their eyes justifies folding/spindling/mutilating even the rule of law – let alone respect for the rights of others, or even just the benefit of the doubt – to impose their One True Way.
They have forgotten, if they ever learned, that the god in the mirror – the worship of which is the end state of any theocracy – is not a reliable deity to look to for guidance. They have become the fundamentalists that they decry, in the manner that has given us an Inquisition, a Cultural Revolution, a Year Zero, and the Taliban.
And it it is why they burn with the heat of a thousand suns in their hatred of Donald Trump – for not only does his presence as President pose a roadblock to their One True Way, every success he delivers risks convincing the rest of us to consider these theocrats irrelevant to our lives and society – the relevance they have built lives, careers and self-esteem upon.
May they become irrelevant, and learn that Dirty Harry was a wise man when he said, “a man’s got to know his limitations”. Then they can begin to respect the rest of us, and walk beside us to a better world.
The Democrats are able to do this stuff because they have no fear of retaliation in kind. They know their dominance in big cities gives them huge majorities in places like NYC, DC, and Fulton County that are absolutely unshakable. They know the juries in these places will be on their side too, and especially in NYC, because that is Trump’s home town, where most of the population hates him personally as well as politically. There isn’t a person in NY or NJ who hasn’t heard a horror story of contractors at his casinos being stiffed by Trump and things like that. Trump has been very litigious over the years and the NYC judges hate him too. And if Trump becomes President again, good luck prosecuting any Democrats in DC or Northern VA where the Government is concentrated. The juries in those places will not convict Democrats. That is why Presidential Immunity was never an issue before but is now. Past presidents were restrained from prosecuting their predecessors because they would expect retaliation from the other side when they left office. But there is no realistic prospect of retaliation as long as the jury pools where these cases are tried are nearly 100% Democrat.
The Alvin Bragg prosecution was set up several years before by the federal prosecutors in SDNY when they prosecuted Cohen. Cohen did lots of stuff, but they forced him to plead guilty to non-crimes involving campaign finance to make more serious stuff go away. They did this to set up a future prosecution of Trump under that NY law, and this was discussed publicly at the time, possibly right here on this blog. Those Democrat lawyers knew exactly what they were doing when they went after Cohen.
But the theory in the Alvin Bragg prosecution is really novel and was criticized by a lot of liberal legal commentators, which is they took an old stale misdemeanor books and records violation and concocted a legal theory to turn it into a felony, so they could extend the statute of limitations. In the civil case, the Attorney General’s office used a civil statute that’s never been used in this way before. This is novel.
“That was a very bizarre decision by the judge. What he found was that there was an appearance of a conflict of interest between the two prosecutors, the lead county prosecutor, Fani Willis, and her lover,……. So he found that that created an appearance of impropriety. So far, so good.
But then he says he’s going to let them decide which of them drops out. Why would a judge do that, if there is an appearance of impropriety? They should both be gone. “
Occam’s Razor – Judges in GA are elected, and he answers to the same voters as Fanni Willis.