DARK  STAINS  &  GOLD  STARS

STAINS & STARS FROM DONALD TRUMP’S “HUSH MONEY” TRIAL

WHAT WAS THE TRIAL ALL ABOUT?
Donald Trump was convicted on May 30, 2024, of 34 felony counts of falsifying documents. The documents identified payments to Michael Cohen as being for “legal services.” The charges say the payments were actually reimbursements to Michael Cohen for $130,000 Cohen paid to Stormy Daniels on Oct. 27, 2016, for exclusive rights to her story about Donald Trump’s sexual affair with her. 

The purpose of purchasing these exclusive rights was to gain control over the story so that it could be killed, 

The importance of killing this story was to protect Donald Trump’s reputation in the last month of his 2016 campaign to become president of the USA. At that time, Trump’s reputation was in great need of protection

THE THREAT TO TRUMP’S ELECTION
On October 7, 2016, The Washington Post published a video and article about then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and television host Billy Bush having a lewd conversation about women in September 2005.

Wikipedia reports that during the conversation

1. Trump described his attempt to seduce a married woman and indicated he might start kissing a woman that he and Bush were about to meet. 
2. He added, “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”^[1]

 The public and political backlash against Trump for these and other comments was swift, widespread, and seriously threatening to his candidacy for president.

There was the possibility that if the story of Trump’s infidelity with Stormy Daniels came out before the vote in November 2016, it would cost Trump the election.

As it was, the election was quite close. In fact, Donald Trump actually lost the popular vote for president. It might have taken only a little more negative press for him to lose the electoral vote and the presidency.

CORRUPTION
All 12 of the jurors found Donal Trump guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying those documents. 

When Trump falsified financial documents to hide the truth about his sexual liaison with Stormy Daniels, it was “dishonest/fraudulent conduct by someone in power.” That is the very definition of corruption. 

MISDEMEANOR VS. FELONY
I understand that Donald Trump’s dishonesty regarding the financial records might have been classified as a misdemeanor rather than a felony in New York had his corruption covered up nothing more than little personal embarrassment. In this case, however, he used illegal means (falsifying financial documents) to cover up breaches of campaign finance and tax laws.

I understand that falsely claiming $130,000 as a business expense when it went to support a political campaign violates campaign finance laws, as well as tax laws.

Donald Trump’s corruption had potentially enormous consequences for the election in the USA and, through it, enormous consequences for the world at large. 

It was like stealing the gold bullion used to back up the USA’s currency, compared to overcharging for an ounce of gold.

MOTIVATION VS EVIDENCE
Many Trump supporters have complained that the charges were politically motivated and should, therefore, be dismissed regardless of their gravity.  This argument ignores the more important question of whether the charges are true or not. 

For instance, Trump supporters pursued the impeachment of President Joe Biden for corruption. Those charges were clearly politically motivated, yet Trump supporters pursued the charges aggressively despite their political motivation. That appears hypocritical, doesn’t it? 

However, the biggest problem with the case against Biden was not the motivation behind the charges. It was the lack of evidence. 

In Trump’s case, prosecutors did find convincing evidence of Trump’s corruption, presented it, and secured a unanimous conviction “beyond a reasonable doubt” on all 34 counts.

I believe that the unanimous conviction is more important than the political motivation of those who brought the case and more important than the political motivation of those who rail against the motivation of those who brought the case.

The exception might be if one’s motivation included criminal intent, but let’s give both sides the benefit of the doubt on that one for now.

UNFINISHED
I understand there will be appeals of that verdict. That is a normal part of the legal process in the USA. It may even turn out that someone identifies errors in the proceedings serious enough to alter the final outcome. 

DARK STAINS & GOLD STARS
I believe, however, that no matter the final outcome,

(1) the fact of this trial, 
(2) the fact of the unanimous conviction, and 
(3) the fact of a legitimate appeals process
will place both a dark stain and a gold star on the reputation of the USA.  

The stain will be for corruption at the highest level of our government. 

The star will be for holding that corruption accountable through a legal process based on evidence rather than mere speculative accusations.

LET’S BE THE ONES

Let each of us be among the ones
who point out the stain of corruption by calling out dishonest/fraudulent conduct wherever it may be found.

Let each of us also be among the ones
who are made worthy of gold stars by not lending our credibility to unsubstantiated accusations by others and by requiring solid proof before passing judgment ourselves.

Graham Rouse
Editor: ROUSEings.com
© GM Rouse 2024. All rights reserved.