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WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, prosecutors have tied President Donald Trump to a federal crime, accusing him of directing illegal hush-money payments to women during his presidential campaign in 2016.
According to the law, prosecutors would have to prove willful intent here.
However, there was no ambiguity in the court documents that prosecutors believe Cohen’s actions were criminal and Trump was directly involved. Prosecutors charged that Cohen arranged the secret payments at the height of the 2016 campaign “in coordination with and at the direction of” Trump. They also alleged Cohen made the payment in order to fend off potential damage to Trump’s presidential bid.
Federal law requires that any payments that are made “for the purpose of influencing” an election must be reported in campaign finance disclosures.
“There is a plausible case against the president,” said Rick Hasen, a professor who specializes in election and campaign finance law at the University of California at Irvine.
Yes, after Friday's information release by Muller, we now know that there is a case, but can Trump be convicted? That part is up in the air. Can Trump be indicted. There is nothing in the Constitution that says he can't be indicted, but The DOJ has always taken a position that a sitting president can't be indicted, as that would make him unable to do his job. He could be impeached by the House, but that would go nowhere, as the Senate does not have close to the votes needed to remove him from office. But here is what I believe is going to happen: At the present time, there are 36 sealed indictments on the DC Court docket. My bet is that one or more of them are going to be unsealed the day after Trump leaves office. All the rest, whether not to indict him while in office is moot. At the same time, I believe that some of the sealed indictments are against Kushner, Don Jr, and other members of the Trump crime family, and they will also stay sealed until the day after Trump leaves office, thus killing the possibility that they will be pardoned for their crimes.
As for collusion, that is just a BS word. Neither the Constitution nor the law have a penalty for collusion, and that word is not even defined. However, Criminal conspiracy and obstruction are serious crimes which carry serious penalties. As for the term "process crimes" that is being thrown about by FOX News, that is also BS. If you are committing perjury in order to cover up a crime, you are guilty of obstruction. Put it this way. A guy goes to rob a bank, and kills a teller in the process. His friend, who knew about the crime in advance, lies that he knew that the crime was going to happen. He has committed perjury and obstructed justice.
Friday's reveal by Mueller pretty much says it all. Trump and Company are in deep doo-doo, and tweeting about "collusion" and "process crimes" isn't going to make it go away. Members of Trump's team, as well as possibly even Trump himself, will be defending themselves against criminal charges just as soon as Trump leaves office. Nothing is going to change that fact.
https://apnews.com/6f4085a78485420cb6b410d9cf9c9c96
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