Why I Believe Trump is Guilty in the Hush Money Case

 Now that both sides have presented their case, here is why I believe Trump is guilty in the Hush Money case.  There are three things the prosecution must do.  First, they must show that the $130K payment to Stormy Daniels was done for campaign reasons.  The prosecution has proven this beyond doubt.  The only alternate explanation the defense provided is Trump wanted to protect is marriage.  Both can be true but in addition to Cohan’s damning testimony, there is Corroboration by other witnesses, phone records, and documentation.

 

Second, the prosecution must show that records were falsified to conceal the payment.  This has also been shown beyond doubt.  We have 12 invoices and checks claiming legal services and retainer fees.  Cohan was an in-house lawyer and a direct employee of Trump.  There is no such thing as a retainer fee for that type of lawyer nor would you claim legal services.  Cohan’s legal services are provided as part of his daily job.  He would not present invoices with billable hours as he would if he were part of an external law firm.  This was also put down as a campaign expense (legal services as part of the campaign) which is false because the invoices were charged to the Trump organization.  This false scheme was hatched prior to the election.  The fact Cohan stole from Trump is irrelevant because that happened well after the election.  Cohan saw an opportunity to skim money off Trump and he took it well after the initial scheme prior to the election had been hatched.  In my opinion, this is slam dunk stuff.  The defense has provided no alternate explanation for these legal expenses.  All they have done is say Cohan is a liar, but the corroborating documents do not lie here and there is no other explanation for why an employee lawyer would be paid retainer and legal expenses.  Trump has never once said what legal services Cohan provided in addition to what he provided as an employee.  There is therefore no reasonable doubt with regard to falsification of documents.

 

And finally, the prosecution must show beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump knew that falsification of records was going on and approved it.  It is true that no letter, email, or phone call from Trump in which he admits to this has been presented.  We have suspect phone records but nothing in print.  This is normal for concealing crimes.  We do not, for example, have a letter from Al Capone admitting to tax evasion or ordering the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre.  It is still possible to show beyond reasonable doubt Trump knew what was going on.  But first, let me just say America is tired of spoiled rich people claiming ignorance of their companies when things go wrong, but claiming credit when things go right.  Trump has been shown to be a micro manager out of his own words, from his book the Art of the Deal as well as corroborating testimony from a number of sources.  But the defense has shot itself in the foot.  They have gone out of their way to paint Cohan as a rat bag lying SOB.  Cohan himself admits this is what he was.  So then, why would such a SOB take out a home equity loan against his own house, conceal this from his wife, and pay Stormy Daniels $130K?  That Cohan did this is beyond dispute.  Would such a SOB do so without any expectation of being paid back from Trump?  He would not.  Cohan also knew Trump was a miser who regularly dodged paying people for legitimate work, so much so that no American bank does business with him now.  The SOB Michael Cohan would not sacrifice $130K out of his own pocket, then steel from Trump.  Cohan needed to be paid back.  That Cohan took out the home loan shows the desperation he and everyone else was in two weeks from the election to make Stormy go away.  The fact Cohan was a SOB at that time only enhances the credibility of this story.  The prosecution showed a total of $420K.  They showed that 8 of the 12 checks were signed by Trump and that they were signed in the White House even though Trump was supposed to relinquish running the company as President, and which Trump said ye would do.  This was obviously not the case.  There can be no reasonable doubt Trump knew concealment was going on.  Trump does not have to be an expert accountant of CFO and it is probable Trump did not design the scheme himself.  He got his expert CFO to do that for him and was therefore complicit. 

 

As I said earlier, Trump has provided no alternative explanation.  Cohan was not going to mortgage his house without being paid back, no matter how loyal he was to Trump.  No wonder Cohan was livid when Trump took most of his bonus away.  Cohan put his own marriage and financial stability on the line for Trump going far beyond what any employee should do.  How many of us would take out a home loan to conceal our boss’s affair?

 

There is no reasonable doubt here.  Trump is guilty and should go to the Bigg House along with his CFO, and several of his loyalists who are already there.