By John Wojcik\Mark Gruenberg\People’s World
NEW YORK—For the first time in history an ex-president is about to go on trial for a crime.
A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled Donald Trump’s criminal trial for hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, to keep her story of their affair out of that year’s presidential campaign, will start on March 25.
That trial is on criminal charges of violating New York election laws by disguising an illegal campaign contribution. The money went to Trump’s then-attorney Michael Cohen out of Trump’s personal checking account, reimbursing Cohen for paying Daniels to shut up.
But it really was a business expense and violated legal limits on campaign contributions, too, Judge Juan Merchan’s 30-page ruling said. Trump’s attempt to put a lid on the scandal that threatened his election in 2016 involved falsification of business records of the Trump Organization.
Judge Merchan’s decision jumps the hush money trial ahead of other trials Trump faces, including a top federal trial in D.C. Judge Merchan said he’s been on the phone with the U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan in D.C. to coordinate trial schedules.
What has Trump shaking in his shoes regarding the trial that will begin next month is that even if he is elected he will be unable to pardon himself since it is a state, not a federal crime. Claims by some pundits, that this is the least serious of the numerous trials Trump faces, don’t hold water. The trial that will begin March 25 can derail his entire presidential campaign and it can result in jail time for the ex-president.
The federal criminal case being run by Judge Chutkan involves Trump’s aiding, abetting and virtually ordering the Trumpite mob to march on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in his ultimate try to steal the 2020 election. But that trial, originally scheduled to begin March 4, is stalled, awaiting higher courts’ rulings on Trump’s claim that he has complete immunity from prosecution forever, after having been president….READ MORE
