It would seem that the Trump cover up campaign is succeeding. Intimidation and legal delays are the time honored techniques of the Trump organization to avoid responsibility for criminal activity. The allusion to a mob organization is frighteningly accurate when the leader attains the office of the Presidency. Having a sociopath as a 'leader' is becoming problematic.
10
When will this stop? DA's act based on political affiliation, and this is not a democracy. It's like in China, or Russia where the KGB goes after people the "Regime" does not like.
The DA in New York is very politically oriented "Democrat," and goes after republicans. Is this a democracy, or what? It's very dangerous if DA's exercise such power which was not meant to be used for political purpose.
1
@Templer It would seem you feel it is quite alright for criminal activities to go unpunished. The GOP technique of politicizing EVERYTHING is working. Cynicism reigns supreme with good will and justice being collateral damage. Witch hunts by the Republicans have gone on far too long with investigations based upon NO EVIDENCE the standard operating procedure. Your transparent maneuver to invoke fake concern, 'red herrings' and scare tactics only illustrates your real political hypocrisy. Evidence should be the basis of trials and attempts to block evidence should be vigorously prosecuted, regardless of party affiliation.
8
@r kress beyond simple jargon in your reply, can you tell me who was sitting on the audio tape of trump and billy bush. who released it?
Will SOMEBODY please finally stop the criminal Trump Organization once and for all ????
Do whatever it takes!!!
14
Small time crime committed by small time thugs. Hey, it's only a "civil case"!
2
another juicy nothing burger
1
Let's get this straight ... trump lawyer Cohen is now in prison for a lying, a crime he committed under instructions from the president. And Mueller just testified under oath live on nation-wide TV that if trump were not a sitting president he would be indicted for obstruction of justice crimes. When asked if trump should be indicted once he left office he said firmly “yes”. There it is folks ... we have an un-indicted unabashedly corrupt criminal in the oval office scot-free to continue his campaign of wreaking havoc and chaos on the nation. What a pathetic and dangerous travesty of justice!
17
@John Townsend
Mueller said could not should.
1
The unnamed Co-conspirator is back in the news.
3
Vance has shown complete favoritism for Trump and his family in the past. I don't see Vance showing anything but that now.
I have no faith in this guy, he needs Trump's campaign money as he did before.
3
@Richard Pontone
Vance the "Democrat" is using his office to go after Republicans. He is basically a dictator is DA's clothing. This is not a democracy, if one person has so much power and his moves are politically motivated.
Meanwhile back at the ranch in the US the EPA is being gutted (already air quality is plummeting), the CFPB is being dismantled, Dodd–Frank is being compromised, the deficit is going through the roof, huge swaths of public lands are being sold off, world free trade is being seriously assailed, the justice department is being revamped with a slew of GOP biased judicial appointees, and all while the FBI is being disemboweled.
10
So since the latest "Bombshell" that was going to seal President Trump's fate,the Muller report went flat, and running out of farces to pin on the President, they're going to dig up Stormy again? Sad & predictable.
6
@Jay: the President is already named but not indicted. This is not digging it up because it never died.
24
Jay,
Obviously the “Mueller report went flat” comment has been initiated by you because you have no doubt not read the Mueller report. These “ farces” as you so categorize Trump’s critic’s charges are punishable by law when Trump is no longer a sitting president. “Sad and predictable.”
23
So what’s Hizzoner’s lawyer in the slammer for? Jaywalking? And why’d the Enquirer head cut a deal on this? For funsies?
But the part I really adore is this: Trumpists had, and have, no problems at all, with the endless far-right state suits, let alone (speaking of going noplace), the Benghazi witch-hunts.
Tell ya what, let’s compromise: rather than hiding under the Resolute desk, how’s about Trump gets grilled for thirteen hours like Hillary did? By the House? Under oath? Like a man?
Yeah, didn’t think so.
25
"Lock Him Up"!
17
"Marc L. Mukasey, an attorney for the Trump Organization … 'It’s just … using subpoenas as weapons.' "
Mr. Mukasey, subpoenas are weapons of force by definition. Subpoenas are used in order to force sworn information. Rats such as your client will not voluntarily give information so a weapon of force is used. Standard practice in America, Mr. Mukasey.
Perhaps you were absent that day in law school when subpoenas were discussed.
14
Is it a hit job when the affair and payoffs are admitted to ?
It was a full blown effort to conceal the actual behavior and morality of
A presidential candidate .
8
We've heard recording between Cohen and Trump discussing payments to hide affair - so, I'm perplexed why there are question(s) whether Trump was aware of payments to conceal affair - or whether affair happened.
What has happened to American's ability to think critically?
15
@bmck
Two Words.
FOX NEWS
9
The Trump Organization did not pay Stormy Daniels anything. Michale Cohen paid her $130,000 out of his own pocket. The U..S. Attorney Office for Southern District of New York charged Cohen for making an “excessive campaign contribution” because the $130,000 exceeded the maximum amount allowable for an individual campaign contribution. Cohen pleaded guilty and got a four-year sentence, which he is serving concurrently with his sentences for tax evasion and bank fraud.
Are the New York state prosecutors now contending Cohen was false convicted and that the $130,000 wasn’t a campaign contribution?
Cohen invoiced the Trump Organization for reimbursement for the $130,000 as part of his retainer fee, but why is the state getting involved? If the Trump Organization thinks the invoice was improper, it should file a lawsuit against Cohen.
1
@William Case
Your defense of Trump is the height of naiveté.
6
@William Case
Bewahahahaha
5
@William Case Maybe you forgot about those court documents naming "Individual-1" ?
A shame you wasted all those years in law school at Trump University and you still don't quite understand how our justice system works. Maybe the State Attorney in New York can help you get a refund of that money, I'm thinking you probably were defrauded.
5
Bear in mind the multiple criminal investigations undertaken against#45, his family and corporate entities when we level nit-picking criticisms at the Democrats seeking the parties mantel to oppose this lying, criminal racist man.
3
Don Trump...head of NY's 6 crime family...sits in the White house while Cohen sits in the big house. Vance needs to aggressively go after Don Trump and his consiglieres Kushner, Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric . They are Don Trump's "flying monkeys" and know where all the bodies are buried.
12
Michael Cohen is guilty of money laundering, tax evasion and conspiracy but they offered him a plea bargain that if he pled guilty to a crime he didn't commit, election fraud which would implicate the President, they would reduce the charges and he would spend less than 3 years in prison. Now the Manhattan DA, a political operative is using that plea deal to continue to harass the President. I have little good to say about Trump but the Democratic Party of NY State and the media make his corruption pale.
2
"Presidential harassment" implies the President is above the law.
This is a horrifying argument for the top person responsible for executing U.S. law to assert.
10
Why hasn’t Avenatti been locked up for stealing from Stormy? New York and California prosecutors are looking more like paper tigers...all talk and no action.
4
It’s funny how rightists and Trumpists only scream about state charges and lawsuits and investigations when they’re aimed at them, which is pretty much what they do about budget deficits and national debt when they’re out of office.
Personally, I’d like to see Trump trying to get through, say, thirteen hours of testifying before Congress like that weak, senile girl, Hillary Clinton.
Oh, wait...Rudy and Jay’d never allow it. Something to do with Hizzoner’s total inability to order lunch without lying sixteen times, I seem to recall.
14
These are the same hush money payments that got Michael Cohen five years in jail, right? And Cohen was just trying to "protect" Trump.
2
How come countless prosecutors and congressional committees and others keep subpoenaing Trump’s business records, taxes, employee testimony, and other materials yet Trump always seems to block these probes?
8
I guess Cy Vance woke up. I hope voters wake up for the next election and vote him out.
16
@myrna Oh don't worry, they won't.
Trump's talking points are alive and well:
“It’s just harassment of the president, his family and his business, using subpoenas as weapons. We will respond as appropriate,” Mr. Mukasey said.
Fox News, his attorneys, his family, Republicans: all efforts to gather information, get answers and/or find lawless behavior is answered with "Presidential Harassment". Or Hillary's emails.
19
Might the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan have “effectively concluded” their inquiry in order to let state prosecutors take over? Doing so could have eliminated the ability for AG Barr to interfere, eliminated the risk of a pardon, and made irrelevant the OLC opinion that the president can't be charged with a Federal crime.
15
Move along nothing to see here. Rehashing the same old story. The guy who fell on his sword for Trump is doing time.They won't do anything to Trump. It's an exercise in futility.Focus your energy on getting him out of office in 2020.
6
It's not only Vance, it's his office. I had a case with Vance's office. We presented certain evidence to the presiding judge and, as a result, a charge was dismissed.
On the way out the door I politely held the door for my adversary, an ADA from Vance's office, who, while he was passing me by, muttered, "you got lucky". I took this to mean that he knew about this evidence all along but suppressed it and that I got lucky to find it.
The problem with Vance's office is that to many of his prosecutors, all public servants, this is a sport where the goal is to get convictions, "wins", instead of doing justice to let people go where warranted.
6
@MIKEinNYC That's kinda the nature of prosecutors in general. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a state or county where the prosecutors don't have that mentality.
6
The reason these state charges are so important is because Trump controls the executive branch of the federal government, and he has shown no reticence in using that power to help himself (financially or otherwise).
It might merely be coincidence that shortly after Bill Barr's confirmation as AG, Mueller's investigation wrapped up; or that the federal case mentioned in the article was suddenly binned. It might be nothing, but given Trump's record, it is at the very least plausible. And so, as in Manafort's case, these state cases are important to ensure Trump doesn't queer the pitch in his favour.
12
"Angry liberal
Using the law as a political weapon
This is the biggest crime priority of the DA?
Abuse of power is the biggest threat to our democracy
Regardless of political leanings, this is appalling to any thinking human who values rule of law"
"Abuse of power is the biggest threat to our democracy." Could not agree more, but Look At Trump! What is nepotism other than an abuse of power? What is stonewalling legitimate oversight than an abuse of power? That you find it appalling is wonderful. Unfortunately, Trump does and can not see that since, as you point out, a pre-requisite is being a thinking human who values rule of law.
10
Tick, tick, tick
Gotta love state charges!
20
Mukasey...enough said
While Department of Justice guidelines say a sitting President should not be indicted, there is no such prohibition for Mr. Vance.
10
This is unseemly. It’s pathetic. When Cyrus Vance, who has repeatedly allowed the Trumps to walk away from serious crimes against the recommendations of his own prosecutors, seeks to charge Trump for some idiotic minor infraction, it’s a complete sham. Vance long ago sullied his father’s name and this ain’t gonna fix it. Somebody should run for DA just to shove this corrupt fraud out of office.
9
Guess it's safe to act now there are cracks in Trump's veneer and it's common knowledge about his guilt in all this. A better prosecutor has the courage to act even when the perpetrator is big and powerful and not just damaged, poor, or minority.
5
Excellent! The decision by the DOJ to walk away from this case with no further indictments smacked of political influence (I.e.: Trump’s).
28
Cohen was offered a choice, pled guilty to a fake campaign finance crime which implicated the President and go to jail for less than three years or be prosecuted for tax and fraud crimes which would send him to jail for 20 years. He chose three years. With the millions of other crimes being committed by White collar criminals, the choice to investigate this crime, paying off blackmail with corporate funds, appears to be based completely on politics.
2
Does NY state have an opinion about prosecuting a sitting president who has committed indictable felony offenses?
18
I am hopeful that NYC and NY state will succeed in pinning down at least some of Trump's criminal activity.
He is the original anti-patriot, self-serving, bullying, cowardly, and palling around with the world's worst dictators. He so wants to be able to jail, torture, and/or kill anyone who opposes him. Republicans have found their golden calf, and their hypocrisy is, unfortunately, it's own reward as they cheat to stay in power.
Shameful and shameless, making America small and mean.
42
I fail to understand how Mr Cohen can be in jail for something he was doing for Donald trump and trump not be in jail.
54
@lz. Not to excuse Mr Cohen, but he's not in prison for this; Mueller's team recommended no prison time, as he was apparently a good co-operating witness. Cohen is serving time for tax evasion and other financial crimes revolving primarily around his taxi business.
2
@Danny no that's not correct. If you google and read SDNY's Criminal Information and their plea deal with Cohen from last year, you'll see that Cohen's campaign finance violations were counts 7 and 8 of the crimes he pled guilty to. (SDNY is part of the DOJ, it's the US Attorney's office in New York and different from both Mueller's team and from New York State.) Michael Cohen is indeed in prison partly for his campaign finance crimes. The injustice here is that Trump isn't.
If you also read all the court filings related to the Cohen case, you'll see the egregious harm Cohen (and Trump, since Cohen testified to Congress that he committed them "at the direction of" Trump), caused to our supposedly free and fair elections.
SDNY wrote, "First, Cohen's commission of two campaign finance crimes on the eve of the 2016 election struck a blow to one of the core goals of the federal campaign finance laws: transparency." . . . "Cohen sought to influence the election from the shadows." . . . "In the process, Cohen deceived the voting public by hiding alleged facts that he believed would have had a substantial effect on the election." . . .
"Cohen clouded a process that Congress has painstakingly sought to keep transparent. The sentence imposed should reflect the seriousness of Cohen's brazen violations of the election laws and attempt to counter the public cynicism that may arise when individuals like Cohen act as if the political process belongs to the rich and powerful."
20
@Lori Sirianni. I did Google it, and it was confirmed in a Dec. 12th 2018 Buzzfeed article that "Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is prosecuting Cohen for lying to Congress, didn’t suggest adding on to that considering Cohen had assisted his investigation." in reference to Cohen's 3½ year sentence.
1
I have never been so hungry for justice. True, clear, honest justice.
35
It seems too overreaching and inconsequential especially in comparison to Obama’s campaign reporting violations. I’m sure the Trump Organizations can pay it to go away also.
3
If Obama had committed fraud of any substantial amount, he would have been drawn and quartered, quite possibly by the same Birther who now occupies the Whitehouse. Ditto the Clintons.
17
@Charlie The president tweeted: “Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime. President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!”
But there is no comparison, experts told NBC News. Cohen's admitted campaign finance law violations are indeed a crime, and they are not similar to the campaign finance violations made by Obama's 2008 campaign. Election law experts said that more minor violations are treated as regulatory or civil matters, while egregious and willful campaign finance violations are treated as criminal acts — no matter who the attorney general is.
4
This action is healthy for our democracy. DJ Trump openly voices words that stir violence against his fellow citizens. He fails to cooperate with formal Congressional subpoenas in violation of our Constitution. Trump makes repeated claims about his business acumen and hides his tax returns which SHOULD prove one way or the other if he is who he claims to be. Trump has repeatedly, openly told us he is a "stable genius"; but according to his personal attorney Michael Cohen, he has threatened to sue each and every school he has ever attended if they release any of his education records.
This subpoena may begin to peal back the skin on a quite smelly situation involving DJ Trump
15
The charge is filing false business records? So, you're not alleging that any taxes were evaded, just that some records might not be accurate. Good one, Mr. Vance.
2
Filing false business records is a common attempt to hide revenue. Trump has made a lot of enemies and broken a lot of laws. This is most likely only the beginning of charges filed at the state level against Donnie the Con.
16
@Mark
Though the filing of false business records in and of itself is not particularly consequential, if judges and juries will go along with the idea that the false records were created to cover up the second crime of violating campaign finance laws, then the we're talking a felony and not a misdemeanor.
7
This is good news. I want the pressure ramped up now that the next election nears.
18
What took them so long?!?!
20
So Trump, after the Access Hollywood tape went public during the campaign, had his lawyer pay off a woman he had an affair with to keep her silent. Audio tapes of a conversation about the buy off have been released to the public. Trump was protected from another affair becoming public by a catch and kill via the National Enquirer.
The massive American Evangelical vote is still with Trump.
The NYT ran a piece after a year long investigation that meticulously outlined the Trump family's years long fraudulent scheme for transferring Fred Trump's fortune to the children in order to avoid estate taxes. The piece also revealed that Donald Trump tried to trick his ailing father into transferring the entire inheritance to Donald, after Fred had repeatedly bailed out the often bankrupt Donald.
The Trump base is undeterred in their enthusiasm for the president.
Children separated from their parents by the Trump administration are being held in overcrowded pens for weeks without access to showers. These concentration camp level detainment centers are off limits to the press to hide the shameful conditions.
Republican politicians continue to support Trump.
Donald Trump is increasingly bold about attacking Democratic congresswomen and men of color with racist language.
Everything carries on as normal.
America is setting quite an example for the world about how a mature democracy operates.
63
Trump is the poster child for how justice works differently for 'the little people' versus those with money and connections. New York City is full of people like Trump, protected by their status and tolerance as just the way things are.
38
Just as Individual One laughed at the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, he will laugh at the Manhattan District Attorney. It's the same principle he articulated so well in the Access Hollywood tape, viz., "If you are a star, you can do anything you want", or in another memorable quote "I could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and get away with it." Donald Trump truly believes he is untouchable by the justice system, and, sadly, he may well be right.
30
CYRUS VANCE JR, It appears, is engaged in a strategy of building a case for violation of state tax laws. The significance of charge/s upheld for violation of state laws is that Trump CANNOT pardon himself for violations of state laws. There are a number of other investigations underway in New York State of Trump's suspected violations of New York statutes. If those cases are resolved in favor of New York, Trump could find himself in a very difficult situation for two reasons: 1) Trump CANNOT pardon himself for violations of State laws and 2) Articles of impeachment can be drawn up by the House based on violations of State laws.
45
@John Jones Thank you John. I hope you are right. We need to keep up the pressure which in the end preserves our Democracy and counters the press under Barr and all the court appointees to ignore Trump's misdeeds and make him God-like because he happens to have born into money (1) and because he has a very ignorant base (2) and ultimately because of "presidential inviobility" (3) made up by his minions.
10
Trump might have avoided all these scandals by making his taxes for the past 10 years public. Now, the American people would like to know what he is hiding.
24
Very difficult for the country to function without a criminal at the helm .
6
Marc Mukasey is Michael Mukasey's son. Michael Mukasey was the guy who replaced Alberto (AKA Speedy) Gonzalez as W's Attorney General. Are these guys all bunkmates at an elite summer camp, or what???
19
The camp of crooks
13
Glad this isn’t politically motivated or anything!
6
@Glenn Baldwin, the crime sure was.
24
@Glenn Baldwin
Glad you're fine with supporting a misogynistic fascist and everything ;-)
21
Trump is a longtime crook who ran on a law-and-order platform and has repeatedly accused innocent people of crimes. He has dodged creditors and indictments for years. The rule of law of New York State is appropriately applied to him in this case.
57
Sounds like NYC Dems are out to get Trump and are overstepping. The issue is the province of the Feds. The Feds should be carrying the ball if they feel there's probable cause.
3
Someone violating Nee York state law is not the province of the Feds.
52
@Mike F.
Riiiight!
3
@Mike F., the Feds aren't doing their job, the Department of Justice explicitly states that it will not indict a sitting president, and even if they did there's an automatic out thanks to presidential pardons. The only legal remedy at present is to turn to the individual states, rather then the federalized system as a whole.
12
Donald J. Trump Sr. committed crimes, by ordering the payoff of his mistress, Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels) prior to the 2016 election, using funds in violation of campaign finance laws. The president has been identified as Individual One in court documents, and is an un-indicted co-conspirator, due to a sitting president can’t be indicted. The Trump family business is involved because Donnie Trumps Jr.’s signature is on at least one of the checks to reimburse former Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, who was convicted and is currently serving a three year sentence.
This isn’t harassment, it’s the law. Follow the money!
146
@Jorge thank you for your legal opinion. It's faulty.
Just like all the lawsuits trump and his miscreants keep on losing. You keep on trying to litigate without facts or truthfulness. Trump will get his comeuppance.
26
@ Jorge
Let the investigation by state of New York sort it out. If he’s innocent, so be it. What are you Trumpsters afraid of? In my book, he’s dirty as sin, but will let the evidence determine the outcome. It’s between Trump and Melania if he slept around while she gave birth, but campaigned finance violations is a serious crime....
38
@Jorge Just like he depended on the National Enquirer, eh. He may have had the right to depend on an Attorney, but he does not have the right to break the law.
10
This is Vance trying to clean the slime off himself and resurrect what shred of decency may remain.
5
Marc L. Mukasey, an attorney for the Trump Organization, called the inquiry a “political hit job.”
No, Marc. The political hit job was when AG Barr shut down the Federal Investigation in Manhattan.
142
The abrupt shutting down of this case by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan last month without the filing of additional charges seemed rather strange.
Is Bill Barr putting a stop to all the additional federal inquires into Trump, that Mueller shunted off, without our knowing about it?
88
All well & good. But where are Trump’s NYS tax returns? In James’s pocketbook?
So much PR coming out of the State Attorney General’s office. The tax returns has been a tease for months. Now we’re suppose to get the vapors over a investigation into Trump’s company.
Stop playing us.
8
If he is serious about pursuing this, District Attorney Vance should have Governor Cuomo appoint a special prosecutor, such as Attorney General James. Vance is too conflicted from letting Javanka off.
26
Trump is a danger to humanity. Every organisation with prosecutorial ability is obligated to inflict as much damage on him as is possible. He has gotten away with way too much for way too long and we all see the disastrous results.
51
Where was Vance and his predecessors for the last 30 years? Trump has been running a criminal enterprise at least that long.
75
My prediction is that Vance will fold like a house of cards. He appears really to beholding to the rich and famous. I fear one or two fat campaign contributions to him will make this go away. Based on how he has previously dealt with Trump and Weinstein, his past conduct will presage of his future actions. What a tragedy.
32
To the Editor:
This new subpoena is perhaps too little and too late. New York State does not have a policy or law that prevents charging a sitting president with a crime. The Times’ own exhaustive front-page multipage investigation provides probable cause of Donald Trump’s violation of state criminal statutes – tax, perjury, suborning testimony, wire fraud etc. Why has Donald Trump not been indicted by the Attorney General or the New County District Attorney?
Deyan Ranko Brashich
1140 Fifth Avenue
New Yok, New York
212 348 1774
59
Nice to see Cyrus Vance, Jr. finally coming to Jesus on the Trump family. It's been a long time coming, with looking the other way having gone on for too long.
All good: I am here for it.
51
Cyrus Vance, Jr. not so long ago gave Javanka a pass when they were involved with a shady real estate deal. For whatever reason (maybe he thinks the H.M.S. Trump is about to sink?) he has come down on the right side. Trump is a criminal. He used his business to funnel hush money. And that’s the tip of the iceberg.
The Department of (in)Justice with Barr running interference and the Senate with Moscow Mitch aiding and abetting will never bring us justice. It’s up to the cities and states to get the truth to the public.
158
He must be feeling guilty about the criminal he helped get to the Presidency because he didn’t have a spine....
41
"“It’s just harassment of the president, his family and his business, using subpoenas as weapons. We will respond as appropriate,” Mr. Mukasey said."
Tell that to Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney and fixer, who is currently in prison for these crimes committed with his unindicted co-conspirator, Individual-1, none other than our lying, illegitimate president.
165
Good. Go after Allen Weisselberg and the rest of them, right up to the rot at the top.
98
The Trump (crime family) Organization might want to relocate its headquarters from New York to Florida—
If there's anything left of it once Trump is expelled from the White House, undoubtedly departing on a jet to Mar-a-Lago.
65
What took ya so long, Vance?
87
Have all the questions about the legalities of Donald Trump's payments of a "personal nature" from campaign funds been answered?
No. They have not.
It is a legitimate investigation. It is not a witch hunt, and it is not a political hit job.
Or has it been deemed acceptable for a presidential candidate to use campaign funds for personal expenses and then lie about how the money was spent?
168
Using the law as a political weapon
This is the biggest crime priority of the DA?
Abuse of power is the biggest threat to our democracy
Regardless of political leanings, this is appalling to any thinking human who values rule of law
10
@Angry liberal
Get real. This is the NEXT logical step of a very legitimate investigation. And this does go to abuse of power when you consider how Trump has tried to obstruct any and all investigations.
101
@SCZ, whatever you need to tell yourself
The intent of the investigation is not to find a crime but to get a specific person because he is publicly despised in that district.
That is frightening
1
The intent of the investigation is to pursue a criminal and his criminal associates. The fact that his job puts him to some extent above Federal law makes this investigation that much more crucial.
29
The New York State criminal justice system has been letting the Trump Crime Family slide unscathed for decades. From tax evasion to fraud, to conspiracy and obstruction of justice, the State of New York looks the other way.
215
Is Vance the Useless looking into indicting Daniels and McDougal for cheating Trump out of money under false pretenses, to wit, that in exchange for money they'd keep their mouths shut which they did not?
8
Are you serious? The cognitive dissonance of Trumpers is mind-boggling.
125
I want to see that trial. “Fraudulent receipt of hush money”.
11
@Ian Yes, it appears we are moving towards a world where accepting a bribe is illegal but offering it is just a cost of doing business.
4