Political Lawfare: Trump’s Controversial New York Trial Outcome

Political Lawfare: Trump's Controversial New York Trial OutcomeJonathan Turley – With the sentencing of Donald Trump Friday, the final verdict on the New York criminal trial of the president-elect is in. The verdict is not the one that led to no jail or probation for the incoming president. Acting Justice Juan Merchan has brought down the gavel on the New York legal system as a whole.

Once considered the premier legal system in the country, figures like New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Justices Arthur F. Engoron and Juan Merchan have caused the system to be weaponized for political purposes. Trump will walk away from this trial and into the White House in less than two weeks, but the New York system will walk into infamy after this day. Continue reading

Trump’s Legal Team Seeks Supreme Court Intervention in Sentencing

Trump's Legal Team Seeks Supreme Court Intervention in SentencingBob Unruh – Article III Project spokesman Mike Davis says now it’s time for the U.S. Supreme Court to “put on big-boy pants and end” the election interference that has occurred through a lawfare case against President-elect Donald Trump in the courtroom of New York judge Juan Merchan.

Merchan supervised the trial on charges created by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg who took business reporting misdemeanors and claimed they were felonies because they were in pursuit of another unidentified crime. Continue reading

The Trump Verdict: Unmasking the Elites’ Anger

The Trump Verdict: Unmasking the Elites' AngerSean Ross Callaghan – A Manhattan court and a Democrat prosecutor convicted President Donald Trump. Our elite celebrate justice while Trump regrets it — or so goes the story. That confection is the latest episode in a histrionic soap opera the neoliberal elite have been producing since Trump won almost a decade ago: “Trump is childish, vicious, and dangerous. We must stop him as we are mature, benevolent, and benign.”

Now, the fake elite have drawn America into the method and madness of Stalin by throwing a bridle around the essential tool of the liberal state, the courts, making it their private political workhorse. Their latest episode is a moment of truth: either Trump is everything they say he is — or they are. He is treated so exceptionally harshly either because he is exceptionally bad — or his inquisitors are. Those are the options. There are only two. Continue reading

Trump Conviction: A Target-Rich Environment for Appeal

Trump Conviction:  A Target-Rich Environment for AppealJonathan Turley – The conviction of former President Donald Trump in Manhattan of 34 felonies produced citywide celebrations. This thrill-kill environment extended to the media, where former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman told MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that it was “majestic day” and “a day to celebrate.” When I left the courthouse after watching the verdict come in, I was floored by the celebrations outside by both the public and some of the media.

The celebrants would be wise to think twice before mounting this trophy kill on the political wall. The Trump trial is a target-rich environment for an appeal, with multiple layers of reversible error, in my view. Continue reading

Trump is Convicted: What Comes Next?

Trump is Convicted: What Comes Next?Jonathan Turley – This morning, many of us are emerging from the late coverage last night after the conviction of former President Donald Trump on 34 felonies. I was in the courtroom for the verdict, which hit like a thunderclap (particularly after a strange snafu with the judge). The question that everyone is asking: what happens next?

The scene in the court was a madhouse. Judge Juan Merchan told the court that the jury had not reached a verdict and would be dismissed for the day. Many reporters in the overflow courtroom were leaving when Merchan suddenly said that there was a verdict. People came running back into the courtroom. That was followed by 34 guilty verdicts. Continue reading