Legal analysts prep for 'vitriolic, nasty prosecution bashing' from Trump and his allies
The New York Times reported Thursday afternoon that the grand jury in Manhattan was voting on whether or not to indict Donald Trump for his hush money payments, and within moments it was revealed that they voted for the indictment.
Legal analyst Harry Litman explained on MSNBC that this had been anticipated for one case or another for years.
"And here it finally comes. It's now going to be the new normal, Nicolle. That is we now are looking ahead at all kinds of litigation and pre-trial challenges," he continued. "Trump has apparently committed himself to a kind of vitriolic, nasty prosecution bashing. I think it's very interesting. [DA Alvin] Bragg impressively held his own counsel here. The table was completely set once they invited Trump to testify. And we were wondering what would happen after that."
Andrew Weissmann, also on MSNBC, was quick to say that regardless of what people think, Trump is innocent until proven guilty in the American court system. That said, he was really grateful there was finally some semblance of accountability.
"We will see for those people, like myself, who have been waiting for a long time to see the first step in terms of legal accountability, this being that first step," he said. "It makes total sense that this would be happening, that one, we're likely to see I think other charges and other jurisdictions. Remember, this by all accounts is not the most serious thing that's under investigation and I think it actually can assist other D.A.'s and federal prosecutors in taking the bold step they need to vindicate the rule of law."
Walter Shaub, who served as director of the Office of Government Ethics during the early months of Trump's presidency, described the indictment to Raw Story as something years in the making.
"The Office of Government Ethics notified the Justice Department in 2018 that former President Donald Trump had omitted his debt to Michael Cohen for the hush money payment from his 2017 financial disclosure, and this indictment shows precisely why that sort of omission matters," said Shaub, who's now a senior ethics fellow at the nonprofit Project on Government Oversight. "We should all be wondering what else Trump may have omitted from his disclosures as president and, more recently, why he missed the deadline to file a required personal financial disclosure as a candidate this year."
See the discussion with Litman and Weissmann below or at the link here.
Leave a Comment
Related Post