We Are Now A Nation Of Men, Not Of Laws

On May 30th, 2024, the American justice system died in the State of New York. A corrupt state judge with a glaring conflict of interest perverted the law, and a jury of 12 political partisans twisted the law to convict a former President of the United States on charges that, on their face, were both manufactured and contrived.

If this verdict is allowed to stand, the United States of America will have failed to maintain its constitutional principles and the rule of law. If the appeals process does not uphold the US Constitution and the rule of law, the country will have devolved into a state of lawlessness resembling a democracy ruled by a mob mentality.

If this occurs, it could be seen as a success in Barack Obama's goal of fundamentally transforming the United States of America.

Merchan’s Corrupt & Lawless Kangaroo Court

Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the trial of former President Donald Trump, has faced allegations of a conflict of interest due to his political affiliations and past activities.

During the 2020 United States presidential election, Merchan, born in Bogotá, Colombia, donated to Democrat Party candidate Joe Biden's campaign, the Progressive Turnout Project, and Stop Republicans, a subsidiary of the previous. This has led some to question whether his political affiliations and activities may have influenced his decisions in the trial.

Merchan also faced allegations of a conflict of interest due to his daughter's political activities. His daughter, Andrea Merchan, is a vocal critic of Donald Trump and has been actively involved in political campaigns against him. Andrea Merchan has publicly expressed her opposition to Trump and his policies, attending protests and rallies against him. She has also been involved in various political campaigns and organizations that have been critical of the former president. This has led some to question whether her political activitism may have influenced her father's decisions in the Trump trial.

Critics argue that Judge Merchan's impartiality could have been further compromised beyond his leftist affiliations by his daughter's political activities and her outspoken opposition to Trump. They contend that her involvement in anti-Trump campaigns may have created a perception of bias, even if Judge Merchan himself did not share her views.

The concerns surrounding Judge Merchan's conflict of interest underscore the broader debate about the role of personal relationships and political affiliations in the judiciary system.

The Trial

On May 30, 2024, former President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. This makes him the first American president to be convicted of a crime. The jury of 12 unanimously returned their verdict after less than two days of deliberation.

As the verdicts were read, President Trump remained stoic, showing no emotion and looking straight ahead

President Trump's attorney has previously vowed to appeal the conviction promptly.

Merchan, by his own actions, a corrupt political partisan whose daughter’s political activity for the Democrat Party should have found him in conflict of interest on this case, set the sentencing hearing for 10am on July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention where the former president is set to be formally designated as the GOP nominee.

Despite the conviction, President Trump is not barred from running for president as a convicted felon.

In response to the ruling, President Trump criticized the decision, stating, "This was a rigged decision right from day one. And we will fight for our Constitution." The verdict followed a six-week trial featuring 22 witness testimonies, culminating in closing arguments made on May 28. The jury began deliberations shortly before noon the next day.

George Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who campaigned in his election on the singular point of “getting Trump,” had charged President Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, a class E felony.

Prosecutors alleged that President Trump fraudulently misclassified hush money payments to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as porn star Stormy Daniels, as part of an attempt to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. President Trump has repeatedly called the criminal case political persecution and an act of election interference.

"It was a very unfair trial. It should never have happened," President Trump said outside the Manhattan courtroom on May 19 after the jury began deliberation. 

The White House has not responded to a request for comment regarding the verdict.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called the verdict a "travesty of justice" in a statement posted on X. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called it a "sad day for America," while Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) referred to the verdict as a "travesty of justice."

The Fraudulent Charges

The charges presented against Trump by Manhattan prosecutors required the fraud to be carried out to commit or conceal another crime. Prosecutors alleged that the secondary crime is a New York election law that criminalizes conspiracy "to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means."

Prosecutors identified unlawful means as violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act, the falsification of other business records, or violations of tax laws.

Judge Merchan ruled that the jury did not have to unanimously agree on specifying the "unlawful means" and that the prosecution did not have to prove that the secondary crime was, in fact, committed.

The jury was instructed on the concept of accessorial liability, which explains that President Trump did not have to commit the crimes himself to be held criminally liable.

Closing Arguments

During closing arguments on May 28, defense attorneys spent two and a half hours trying to convince the jury the government had failed to prove its case. Defense attorney Todd Blanche reminded jurors that key elements of the case – President Trump's knowledge and involvement and the method for the allegedly misclassified payments – hinged on ex-lawyer and convicted felon Michael Cohen.

"He lied to Congress. He lied to prosecutors. He lied to his family and business associates," Mr. Blanche said of Mr. Cohen, calling him the "MVP of liars." He asked jurors to question whether Mr. Cohen truly seemed the type to do work for President Trump for no pay in 2017 and 2018 after receiving a $525,000 salary during his decade at the Trump Organization.

Prosecuting attorney Joshua Steinglass acknowledged their flawed witnesses, claiming Cohen was the only alleged coconspirator to have paid for his role in a scheme to influence the election, and his animosity toward the former president was only to be expected.

Charges Without A Crime

The 34 records in question included 11 checks issued to Michael Cohen, formerly a personal attorney to President Trump, totaling $420,000 over 11 months in 2017, along with their corresponding invoices and vouchers. The additional single record is due to a lost check that necessitated the creation of a replacement to pay Cohen.

Cohen testified that he paid $130,000 to porn star Clifford in a non-disclosure settlement agreement to prevent the publication of a story that then-candidate Trump believed would hurt his campaign. Cohen testified that he made this payment in 2016 with the understanding that his employer, then-candidate Trump, would reimburse him.

It prompted discussions with former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, who purportedly drew up plans to reimburse Cohen for the payment to Clifford. The sum was then doubled to account for taxes, and Weisselberg added $60,000 to supplement Mr. Cohen's bonus.

Prosecutors had claimed Weisselberg's "grossing up" the figures for tax purposes was evidence he intended to "camouflage" reimbursement as income.

Weisselberg was never called by the prosecution to testify because his testimony would have derailed the prosecution’s case.

A Stretch Too Far

At trial, prosecutors sought to show that President Trump had caused false records to be entered when Weisselberg, acting unilaterally as a co-conspirator, directed his comptroller Jeffrey McConney and bookkeeper Deb Tarasoff to process these payments.

President Trump was not directly charged with conspiracy, and prosecutors had no burden to prove either the goal or the state of mind behind any alleged conspiracy.

To wit, Trump never did anything or had any proven knowledge of malfeasance, and the prosecutors never actually charged Trump with a provable crime.

Additionally, the prosecution and the New York State Legislature violated Trump’s constitutional rights by retroactively abusing the statute of limitations in crafting person-specific legislation in order to charge Trump in connection with the Clifford issue.

Further, Clifford's non-disclosure agreement was legal, so much so that the Federal Election Commission refused to prosecute the case because it considered the expenditure a business expense, exactly how Weisselberg classified the expense.

Trump committed no crime. And, as liberal constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz has adamantly stated, Trump was charged with no crime. Yet Trump was convicted on felony charges born of partisan lawfare politics.

John Adams said of the original, untainted federal government that it must be " a government of laws, and not of men." The judiciary system in New York has been turned into a corrupt state that sees it as an entity of men and not laws.

If this case isn't fast-tracked to nullification in the federal court system (preferably at the SCOTUS), we will have lost the country.