Legal Experts Break Down Flaws in Trump Indictment

Legal experts have raised concerns about the indictment against former President Donald Trump, released on Tuesday. They argue that the charges are vague, meritless, and incomplete.

One of the attorneys involved in Trump’s impeachment defense team in 2019, Alan Dershowitz, stated that the case is entirely weak. The indictment accuses Trump of 34 felony-level counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege that during the 2016 election, Trump directed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence regarding her alleged affair with Trump in 2006. The prosecutors further argue that Trump reimbursed Cohen through monthly checks and documented the payment as legal expenses in the Trump Organization, leading to 34 false entries in business records.

Legal experts argue that the case is on unstable ground due to the lack of clarity regarding a second crime that the payment is alleged to cover up. Prosecutors have suggested various possibilities, including a violation of state election law, a violation of a federal cap on campaign contributions, or a violation of state tax law. However, they have not specified which of these crimes occurred, prompting legal experts to question the validity of the indictment. The former chairman of the Federal Elections Commission, Bradley Smith, also argues that the hush money payment should not be categorized as a campaign contribution.

Furthermore, experts argue that Bragg’s lack of clarity on the second crime violates Trump’s Constitutional right to due process. Bragg has decided to move ahead with the indictment without including the legal basis for his invasion. Finally, John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation, noted that federal prosecutors dropped a similar case against former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who was previously charged with federal campaign finance violations.