The first time in history that an American President stood trial was when he was accused of treason. Now, that would make sense. Instead, it was for paying someone off to keep quiet about a potentially damaging story- whether it was fully true or not. This is something that has been done by many celebrities and politicians before, except their name was not Donald J. Trump.
Just for one example, in 2008, Democrat John Edwards was pursuing the presidency and paid off his mistress, Rielle Hunter, to keep quiet. His wife was battling cancer. If this affair became public, it would destroy his carefully cultivated “family man” image. There was no conviction.
The fraud convictions on May 30 was a political hit job. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg campaigned saying he would go after Trump. After his predecessor, and even federal authorities refused to charge the former President, Bragg did. An official from the Biden Justice Department specifically came to Bragg’s office to help with the prosecution.
Think about it: the prosecution of Trump had to happen in Manhattan to reach its end goal. In gambling terms, the best odds of getting twelve random people to unanimously agree on convicting Trump is from a place where nearly 90% of its residents voted against him.
The District Attorney did not even have to tell the jury what the crime was, and the judge told the jury that they did not have to unanimously agree on what the specific crime was to find him guilty. To convict, the jury had to find that Trump falsified business records in furtherance of another crime. In the indictment of Trump, Bragg never even said what this crime was. Hence the saying that “you can indict a ham sandwich.”
At the trial, the prosecutors gave a buffet of laws that the jury could choose from to find the crime to apply in order to convict. Even worse, in the Judge’s instructions to the jury he told them they did not have to unanimously agree to the specific crime they think Trump committed- just pick one from the buffet menu. Let’s also not forget the judge is a Biden donor whose daughter works for D.C. Democrats. A political hit job completed.
What is scariest of all is that nothing at all prevents this Judge from sending Trump to prison when he is sentenced on July 11.
A few hours after the jury announced their verdict, Trump reportedly had dinner with about 15 friends, including former Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis. Catsimatidis said they compared the trial to the 1992 comedy film “My Cousin Vinny.” To quote Stephen Hawking, “Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.”
This conviction gives Biden and Democrats exactly what they wanted- the ability to call Trump a “convicted felon” ad nauseam between now and election day, which was the end goal all along.
This is not just the first time a former President was charged criminally; it is the first time I believe a sitting President has tried to persecute his opponent and put him in jail in the United States of America.
Bob Capano, a Brooklyn resident, has worked in senior level positions for New York City Republican and Democratic elected officials, and has been a college instructor of Political Science for over 15 years with the City University of New York.
To read an opposing view on Trump's convictions, click here.
