• Burmese
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
25 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home News World

Donald Trump charged, but conviction is no slam dunk

AFP by AFP
April 6, 2023
in World
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
Donald Trump charged

Former US president Donald Trump appears in court at the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 4

4.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

WASHINGTON—The historic case against Donald Trump faces a number of legal hurdles if it is to result in the first conviction of a US president on criminal charges, legal experts said Wednesday.

As to be expected, Trump’s attorneys dismissed the 34-count indictment unsealed on Tuesday at the high-profile arraignment in New York of the 76-year-old real estate tycoon.

“It was a little disappointing, a little bit of a relief quite frankly to see that indictment,” Joe Tacopina told NBC’s “Today” show. “This case is going to fall on its merits.”

RelatedPosts

Timeline: Key Events in the Life of Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Updated Timeline: Key Events in the Life of Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

June 17, 2025
5.4k
Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

Israel-Iran Conflict: Latest Developments

June 17, 2025
107
China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

June 17, 2025
1.1k

Even some of Trump’s fiercest critics were not impressed with the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat who has been accused by Trump and other Republicans of waging a “political witch hunt.”

Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, who is now one of his most outspoken foes, told CNN the indictment was “even weaker than I feared it would be.”

“Speaking as someone who very strongly does not want Donald Trump to get the Republican presidential nomination, I’m extraordinarily distressed by this document,” Bolton said.

“I think it’s easily subject to being dismissed or a quick acquittal for Trump.”

The indictment charges Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records over a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen arranged the payment to Daniels and then was reimbursed by Trump in installments, which accounts for the 34 charges.

The payments rise from the level of a misdemeanor to a felony because, the indictment says, they were allegedly made with “intent to commit another crime.”

The indictment, however, fails to specify what the other crime was and that’s where things may get tricky.

At a press conference, Bragg said the payments were part of a scheme orchestrated by Trump, Cohen and others to “suppress negative information” and boost his election chances.

“The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means,” he said.

It’s legally questionable, however, whether Trump could be found to have violated New York election law while he was running for president and not for a position in the state.

Ellen Yaroshefsky, a law professor at Hofstra University, said prosecutors may be hard-pressed “to prove that the false business records were with intent to influence the election.”

‘Disappointment’

Andrew McCabe, a former FBI deputy director, told CNN the indictment was a “disappointment.”

“What is the legal theory that ties a very solid misdemeanor case… to the intent to conceal another crime, which is what makes it a felony?” he asked.

“If all of our legal friends read this indictment and don’t see a way to a felony, it’s hard to imagine convincing a jury that they should get there.”

Another potential stumbling block for prosecutors could be Cohen, who was sentenced to prison over the Daniels payments, tax evasion and other crimes.

Cohen’s credibility as a witness is certain to come under attack from Trump’s lawyers because he is now a convicted felon and a bitter critic of his former boss.

William Banks, a law professor at Syracuse University, said the case was “fraught” with difficulties and the charges pale in comparison to the legal jeopardy Trump could face elsewhere.

Banks specifically cited Georgia, where prosecutors are investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the southern state.

A special counsel is also looking into Trump’s role in the January 6, 2021, attack on Congress by his supporters and a cache of classified documents taken from the White House to his Florida home.

Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said prosecutors would have to prove that Trump knew he was violating campaign finance laws with the payments.

“Proving intent can always be tricky,” Hasen wrote in Slate magazine, citing the case of John Edwards, who twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination.

Edwards was put on trial in 2012, accused of campaign finance violations for making hush-money payments to a mistress, but the jury deadlocked.

Not all legal experts were so disparaging of the case.

Barbara McQuade, a former district attorney now teaching at the University of Michigan, said she believed it to be “very solid.”

“This case is based largely on documents, which typically make for a very strong case because, unlike witnesses, documents don’t lie and documents don’t forget,” McQuade told AFP.

Your Thoughts …
AFP

AFP

News Agency

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang
Burma

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

by Hein Htoo Zan
November 28, 2023
98.3k

Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army troops are opening roads and pathways through forests for people to flee Kokang’s capital as...

Read moreDetails
Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public
Burma

Burning Alive in Myanmar: Two Resistance Fighters Executed in Public

by The Irrawaddy
February 7, 2024
89.3k

People’s Defense Force says junta troops told every household in the village to send one member to witness the double...

Read moreDetails
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State
War Against the Junta

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

by The Irrawaddy
November 29, 2023
87k

Brotherhood Alliance member says it now has complete control of Kokang’s northernmost section after the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion 125...

Read moreDetails
Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks
Burma

Depleted Myanmar Military Urges Deserters to Return to Barracks

by The Irrawaddy
December 4, 2023
59k

The junta said deserters would not be punished for minor crimes, highlighting the military’s shortage of troops as resistance offensives...

Read moreDetails
As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue
Burma

As Myanmar’s Military Stumbles, a Top General’s Dissapearance Fuels Intrigue

by The Irrawaddy
April 19, 2024
46.9k

The junta’s No. 2 has not been seen in public since April 3, sparking rumors that he was either gravely...

Read moreDetails
Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow
Burma

Enter the Dragon, Exit the Junta: Myanmar’s Brotherhood Alliance makes Chinese New Year Vow

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
44.7k

Ethnic armed grouping says it will continue Operation 1027 offensive until goal of ousting the junta is achieved. 

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Myanmar Junta Arrests 15 NUG-Linked Teachers

Myanmar Junta Arrests 15 NUG-Linked Teachers

Seven Myanmar Resistance Fighters Killed in Sagaing

Seven Myanmar Resistance Fighters Killed in Sagaing

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

Is TNLA, Under Chinese Pressure, Conceding Northern Shan Gateway to the Regime?

4 days ago
1.3k
China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

2 days ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta Attacks to Reclaim KIA’s Jade and Rare Earth Strongholds

    Myanmar Junta Attacks to Reclaim KIA’s Jade and Rare Earth Strongholds

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China’s Bet on Myanmar Junta Risks Backfiring

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China is Systematically Dismantling Tibetan Monastic Traditions

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Updated Timeline: Key Events in the Life of Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Defusing the Thai-Cambodian Border Row

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.