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Federal criminal prosecution of an ex-president is highly problematic. Even when justified on the merits, it opens the door to retribution by the other side and the criminalization of politics. Moreover, when the country is as polarized as the United States is now, a criminal trial would surely inflame emotions and make the country practically ungovernable. And, as we learned during the Mueller investigation and impeachment, it can be difficult to assemble evidence for actions the president took in office because of executive privilege (the qualified one as opposed to the bogus “absolute” privilege the Supreme Court shot down in July).

 

However, state prosecution for actions that precede a presidency avoids these pitfalls. And that may well be where we are headed with President Trump.

The New York Times reports: “The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested on Monday that it has been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past.” This is the same investigation which Trump unsuccessfully attempted to thwart by invocation of absolute immunity.

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., in a filing to justify the broad scope of the subpoena, let on that the scope of the investigation is correspondingly broad. This is not merely about hush-money payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, to keep them quiet about alleged affairs with Trump; the matter could potentially cover years of financial dealings. The Times explains that prosecutors “cited newspaper investigations that concluded the president may have illegally inflated his net worth and the value of his properties to lenders and insurers. . . [and] an article on the congressional testimony of his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who told lawmakers last year that the president had committed insurance fraud.” Trump denies all wrongdoing (and has assiduously hidden his taxes from view), but a grand jury continues to investigate.

The filing should send panic rushing through the Trump empire. “The serious state crimes by Donald Trump and his enterprises that Cyrus Vance has indicated he is pursuing as Manhattan DA cannot be shielded from prosecution by any invocation of presidential immunity, nor are they beyond the reach of prosecution and punishment by virtue of time,” constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tells me. “The ongoing pattern of financial fraud and deception quite plausibly establishes an inseparable criminal scheme that prevents the statute of limitations from taking even the earliest instances of felonious conduct by Trump and his co-conspirators off the table.”

On the issue of the statute of limitations, former House impeachment counsel Norman Eisen says, “Statutes of limitation can be held open by a variety of circumstances, such as ongoing conspiracies, concealment and other equitable considerations, although that is not easy to do.” He adds, “Still, if the evidence, for example, demonstrates a single continuous fraud by Trump, it might or might not overcome the normal time limits for prosecution.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/04/trumps-biggest-problem-may-be-closest-home/

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13 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

Federal criminal prosecution of an ex-president is highly problematic. Even when justified on the merits, it opens the door to retribution by the other side and the criminalization of politics. Moreover, when the country is as polarized as the United States is now, a criminal trial would surely inflame emotions and make the country practically ungovernable. And, as we learned during the Mueller investigation and impeachment, it can be difficult to assemble evidence for actions the president took in office because of executive privilege (the qualified one as opposed to the bogus “absolute” privilege the Supreme Court shot down in July).

 

However, state prosecution for actions that precede a presidency avoids these pitfalls. And that may well be where we are headed with President Trump.

The New York Times reports: “The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested on Monday that it has been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past.” This is the same investigation which Trump unsuccessfully attempted to thwart by invocation of absolute immunity.

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., in a filing to justify the broad scope of the subpoena, let on that the scope of the investigation is correspondingly broad. This is not merely about hush-money payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, to keep them quiet about alleged affairs with Trump; the matter could potentially cover years of financial dealings. The Times explains that prosecutors “cited newspaper investigations that concluded the president may have illegally inflated his net worth and the value of his properties to lenders and insurers. . . [and] an article on the congressional testimony of his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who told lawmakers last year that the president had committed insurance fraud.” Trump denies all wrongdoing (and has assiduously hidden his taxes from view), but a grand jury continues to investigate.

The filing should send panic rushing through the Trump empire. “The serious state crimes by Donald Trump and his enterprises that Cyrus Vance has indicated he is pursuing as Manhattan DA cannot be shielded from prosecution by any invocation of presidential immunity, nor are they beyond the reach of prosecution and punishment by virtue of time,” constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tells me. “The ongoing pattern of financial fraud and deception quite plausibly establishes an inseparable criminal scheme that prevents the statute of limitations from taking even the earliest instances of felonious conduct by Trump and his co-conspirators off the table.”

On the issue of the statute of limitations, former House impeachment counsel Norman Eisen says, “Statutes of limitation can be held open by a variety of circumstances, such as ongoing conspiracies, concealment and other equitable considerations, although that is not easy to do.” He adds, “Still, if the evidence, for example, demonstrates a single continuous fraud by Trump, it might or might not overcome the normal time limits for prosecution.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/04/trumps-biggest-problem-may-be-closest-home/

  Washington Post opinion?  All I needed to know.  Snooze.

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1 hour ago, Tiberius said:

Federal criminal prosecution of an ex-president is highly problematic. Even when justified on the merits, it opens the door to retribution by the other side and the criminalization of politics. Moreover, when the country is as polarized as the United States is now, a criminal trial would surely inflame emotions and make the country practically ungovernable. And, as we learned during the Mueller investigation and impeachment, it can be difficult to assemble evidence for actions the president took in office because of executive privilege (the qualified one as opposed to the bogus “absolute” privilege the Supreme Court shot down in July).

 

However, state prosecution for actions that precede a presidency avoids these pitfalls. And that may well be where we are headed with President Trump.

The New York Times reports: “The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested on Monday that it has been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past.” This is the same investigation which Trump unsuccessfully attempted to thwart by invocation of absolute immunity.

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., in a filing to justify the broad scope of the subpoena, let on that the scope of the investigation is correspondingly broad. This is not merely about hush-money payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, to keep them quiet about alleged affairs with Trump; the matter could potentially cover years of financial dealings. The Times explains that prosecutors “cited newspaper investigations that concluded the president may have illegally inflated his net worth and the value of his properties to lenders and insurers. . . [and] an article on the congressional testimony of his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who told lawmakers last year that the president had committed insurance fraud.” Trump denies all wrongdoing (and has assiduously hidden his taxes from view), but a grand jury continues to investigate.

The filing should send panic rushing through the Trump empire. “The serious state crimes by Donald Trump and his enterprises that Cyrus Vance has indicated he is pursuing as Manhattan DA cannot be shielded from prosecution by any invocation of presidential immunity, nor are they beyond the reach of prosecution and punishment by virtue of time,” constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tells me. “The ongoing pattern of financial fraud and deception quite plausibly establishes an inseparable criminal scheme that prevents the statute of limitations from taking even the earliest instances of felonious conduct by Trump and his co-conspirators off the table.”

On the issue of the statute of limitations, former House impeachment counsel Norman Eisen says, “Statutes of limitation can be held open by a variety of circumstances, such as ongoing conspiracies, concealment and other equitable considerations, although that is not easy to do.” He adds, “Still, if the evidence, for example, demonstrates a single continuous fraud by Trump, it might or might not overcome the normal time limits for prosecution.”

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/04/trumps-biggest-problem-may-be-closest-home/

I thought this was an attempt to let Obama off the hook.

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8 minutes ago, BillStime said:

 

It pays to have friends in high places.  Jealous you're not part of the gravy train? 

 

TRUMPTRAIN2020 BABY!! 

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49 minutes ago, BillStime said:

To open or not to open? That is the question. On the one hand every time I open one of your links I find the story you're trying to tell is false. Since you have no credibility what's a fella to do?

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