Understanding the Manhattan DA's Criminal Case Against Trump

There’s a new trial date in Manhattan—April 15 for the start of jury selection—and this one looks pretty firm. I say “pretty firm” because prosecutors know that for reluctant defendants (and I’ve never seen one more reluctant than Trump), there are all kinds of last-minute stunts to attempt. But Judge Juan Merchan seems to have taken the measure of the man. He was unpersuaded in court today, sometimes merely rejecting Trump’s bogus arguments, but at other times, seemingly angry that Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche, an alum of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, tried to insinuate that the situation was something it was not. More on that in a moment. But after today, even though we can expect Trump to try the predictable last-ditch efforts of the desperate, like firing his lawyer or sudden illness, we can also expect the Judge to be prepared.

Understanding the Case

Trump will try to argue that this is just another case wrongfully alleging him of business fraud. He’ll try to limit additional damage in the minds of the voting public by conflating it with the New York AG’s civil fraud case. But the evidence the jury will hear is about something entirely different.

This isn’t a case about civil fraud, it’s a criminal case. And it’s not about cooking the books, although that’s a part of it. It’s the story of a candidate, already on the ropes following the release of the Access Hollywood tape, who was trying to prevent his campaign from flatlining if news of his sexual relationship with a porn star (who bore an uncanny resemblance to his daughter Ivanka) surfaced just ahead of the election. Trump concealed the hush money payments as legal fees and expenses for his then-lawyer Michael Cohen.

The Access Hollywood tape was graphic and shocking at the time. Feel free to skip over this, because the obscenity is appalling, but really, that’s the point. This is the guy conservatives and Evangelical Christians have signed off on as their leader now, but at the time the tape was released, there was an outcry. There was strong public sentiment that Trump’s campaign was on life support. Preventing anything more from coming to light was the motive for the crime the DA’s office charged Trump with:

Trump: "I moved on her actually. You know she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and fuck her, she was married."

Unknown: "That's huge news there."

Trump: "No, no, Nancy. No this was [inaudible] and I moved on her very heavily in fact I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said I'll show you where they have some nice furniture. I moved on her like a bitch. I couldn't get there and she was married. Then all-of-a-sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look."

Billy Bush: "Your girl's hot as shit. In the purple."

Multiple voices: "Whoah. Yes. Whoah."

Bush: "Yes. The Donald has scored. Whoah my man."

Trump: "Look at you. You are a pussy."

Bush: "You gotta get the thumbs up."

Trump: "Maybe it's a different one."

Bush: "It better not be the publicist. No, it's, it's her."

Trump: "Yeah that's her with the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything."

Bush: "Whatever you want."

Trump: "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

That’s why Trump was desperate to keep Stormy Daniels from going public about their sexual relationship before the election. The case is best understood as one about an effort by a candidate to conceal material information from voters ahead of an election—election interference. Trump keeps saying it’s a case about election interference, by which he means Joe Biden somehow acting as puppeteer to have the Manhattan DA (over whom he has no control or influence) manufacture bogus charges against Trump. Trump is right—the case is about election interference—just not in the way he claims. As Trump so often does, he is projecting the truth about himself onto Biden, and there is simply no merit to it.

Just Security has put together a great infographic that gives you an overview of the scheme and the key players in summary form.

What Happened in Court Today

As we discussed last night, once the details came to light, it became clear there wasn’t any beef to Trump’s claims the DA violated its obligation to turn over evidence to him in the discovery process. Trump’s lead attorney, former federal prosecutor Todd Blanche, seemed surprised by some of the judge’s pointed questions, almost as though he expected the Judge to be on his side. That was not the case.

Far from being receptive, the Judge quizzed Blanche on why he hadn’t requested more time earlier, rather than waiting to the point where it was a convenient excuse to argue for a trial delay. When Blanche tried to claim he needed time to meet with the FBI about new documents related to the 2016 investigations into Trump the Judge responded with a curt, to-the-point question: "What does that have to do with this case?" And he chastised Blanche, pointing to his earlier service as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York to drive home the point we made here last night: the SDNY is a separate office from the Manhattan DA’s office, which indicted this case. The Manhattan DA fulfilled all of its discovery obligations.

Justice Merchan underscored that conclusion before leaving for the morning recess: “The People went so far above and beyond what they were required to do that it’s odd that we’re even here.”

That’s a resounding victory for prosecutors, who can now get ready to start striking a jury on April 15.

What Happens Next

Trump has said he’ll appeal. Of course.

The reality is, he’s out of options. The case is ready to go to trial, and the Judge made it clear today that he’s out of patience with the delay game. If only one of the Trump criminal cases gets to a verdict before the election, it will be this one.

About the Bond in the Civil Fraud Case

The courts didn’t hold firm today in New York, where an appellate court reduced Trump’s $454 million-plus bond in the civil fraud case to $175 million and gave him an additional ten days to put it in place, although that stay is conditioned on Trump formally filing his appeal on time. The court offered no explanation for its action in a two-page order that you can read here. It did keep the independent monitor in place, suggesting concurrence in Judge Engoron’s decision that the evidence demonstrates Trump cannot be trusted and requires oversight.

I wrote last night that it would be sending the wrong message if the court offered Trump special treatment. I continue to believe that. It’s time for the courts to stand firm.

Thanks for being here with me at Civil Discourse. And thank you to those of you who are able to support this work with your paid subscriptions, which help me make it available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Engaging in civil discourse is more important now than ever as we get closer to the election. The truth can make a difference. That’s the work ahead of us.

I was glad to see anchor after anchor on MSNBC today criticize the network’s decision to hire former RNC chair and Trump toady Ronna (Romney) McDaniel, following Chuck Todd’s lead Sunday morning on Meet the Press. Election deniers shouldn’t be provided with a public platform. McDaniel was an important cog in Trump’s machine, someone who felt compelled to delete her tweets in preparation for assuming her new role in the media because the truth is that she furthered Trump’s lies and willingly participated in the effort to compromise Americans’ confidence in the outcome of the election. We cannot let these people pretend it never happened.

We’re in this together,

Joyce