Happy New Year David. I'm sorry to say, I have to agree with you, I'm sure the negative stories will out number the positive stories in 2025. Your recap of 2024 was pretty good, but I have to correct one small issue. The 34 felony counts in New York were for falsifying business records and had nothing to do with elections. Trump is guilty of many things, and in my opinion would never be "a friend". Trump does a good enough job of "foot in mouth" trouble and doesn't need any help. He doesn't need anyone "adding" to the list.
You might want to read Justice Merchan’s jury instructions. He said that the records were falsified in an attempt to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means”, a felony in New York. The jurors had to find that Trump attempted to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means”. The case in essence was about the election.
That might have been the instructions to the jury, but that wasn't the law he was charged and convicted for. They could prove that records were falsified, but could only speculate as to the reason why.
Joe, my area of academic concentration was courts. A judge can only give instructions based on the law being used to prosecute. Yes, Trump was charged with falsifying business records which would likely have been a misdemeanor. However, it was a felony because he falsified those records in an attempt to influence the 2016 election. But don’t take my word for it. Here is the press release from the New York District Attorney’s office in 2023. Specifically it says:
“Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. today announced the indictment of DONALD J. TRUMP, 76, for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election. During the election, TRUMP and others employed a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”
Happy New Year, and hopefully many, many more positive stories to share in 2025!
🤞
Thanks for sharing your excellent articles. May you have the desire and willingness to continue in 2025.
Thanks so much for your support, Cecile!
I’m reminded of the Don Henley song “Dirty Laundry”…people love it when you lose…the negative news gets the attention and the ratings.
Happy New Year David! Thanks for another year of interesting and enjoyable reading.
Thank you for supporting my blog, Ted. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year David! Could be a wild ride!
Happy New Year David. I'm sorry to say, I have to agree with you, I'm sure the negative stories will out number the positive stories in 2025. Your recap of 2024 was pretty good, but I have to correct one small issue. The 34 felony counts in New York were for falsifying business records and had nothing to do with elections. Trump is guilty of many things, and in my opinion would never be "a friend". Trump does a good enough job of "foot in mouth" trouble and doesn't need any help. He doesn't need anyone "adding" to the list.
You might want to read Justice Merchan’s jury instructions. He said that the records were falsified in an attempt to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means”, a felony in New York. The jurors had to find that Trump attempted to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means”. The case in essence was about the election.
That might have been the instructions to the jury, but that wasn't the law he was charged and convicted for. They could prove that records were falsified, but could only speculate as to the reason why.
Joe, my area of academic concentration was courts. A judge can only give instructions based on the law being used to prosecute. Yes, Trump was charged with falsifying business records which would likely have been a misdemeanor. However, it was a felony because he falsified those records in an attempt to influence the 2016 election. But don’t take my word for it. Here is the press release from the New York District Attorney’s office in 2023. Specifically it says:
“Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. today announced the indictment of DONALD J. TRUMP, 76, for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election. During the election, TRUMP and others employed a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase, and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. TRUMP then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”
https://manhattanda.org/district-attorney-bragg-announces-34-count-felony-indictment-of-former-president-donald-j-trump/