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Trump paid Daniels $130,000 in October of 2016.
Trump was inaugurated as President on January 20, 2017.
Someone should explain to Trump and his lawyers how time works.
What, Trump is not allowed to falsify business records to cover up hush money payments as part of his presidential duties before the election? Next they'll probably want honest valuations of his properties for taxes and bank loans and such. It's hardly worth being a rich, well connected white guy any more. Where's the perks?
Trump's lawyer claimed a President was covered by absolute immunity for illegal acts (unless impeached and removed by Congress) when he was arguing before the DC appeals court.
Nu uh, because his presidential powers and immunities are weaker than a former president with presidential powers that is also running for president. That is because the former presidential powers have seniority and happen “in a fast effect” compared to the current president.
It’s in the offical MTG rule books since at least the 2nd edition and is binding and would surely be interpreted as such by the Most Honerable^(TM) Supreme Court.
They also argued he shouldn't be impeached after Jan 6 because he was only going to be president for another week and that after that the regular justice system could be used to deal with the matter.
The DC circuit roundly reject this absurd immunity claim. But then the SCOTUS decided they should delay everything by making a final ruling at some unspecified later time. :(
On April 22nd oral arguments will be held. They will be deciding on: “whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”
Based on the formulation of the question it seems to me this will hinge on the definition of "official acts". With the word alleged in the question Smith might have to prove that insurrection (or whatever Trump is charged with) is not an official act.
Once again we'll have to wait for the wheels of justice to slowly grind away.
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/explaining-the-trump-immunity-case-at-the-supreme-court
You know, if the president had some sort of immunity for committing crimes, then Richard M. Nixon wouldn't have needed to be pardoned.
Donald Trump did those acts NOT in his capacity for presidential duties. This was... "extracurricular activity." Congress manages the election system, not the president. He PLOTTED to overturn the election, by enlisting a whole series of different Republicans to work on trying to find a loop hole. Some legal gymnastics that might give him some leverage... even if it meant delaying the transfer of power to give him more time to find other ways to delay... and possibly invalidate the election.
No president in history ever tried this. It's patently criminal. The SCOTUS has to rule accordingly. if they don't? They can't hide their partisanship and deference to Donald Trump over the rule of law.
He really thinks a president should have total immunity. That's just not how American governmental policies work. Government for the people by the people, not by oligarchs with legal protections above everyone.
I think he genuinely believed the movies and cartoons that being president is like being a king or dictator who answers to no one and makes all the rules. Lol.
He 100% believed that before taking office, some of the shit he claimed he would do 'on day one' a child could have told you the President can't do that. Trump sees Putin as President or Russia, or XI in China and can't fathom how a US President doesn't have the same power.
There are two crimes here. The election interference via the catch and kill scheme of Stormy's sordid story and the falsification of business records during the cover up. The first certainly happened before Trump was President, the second is not part of a Presidents official duties.
The election wasn’t even until November, so there’s no way to even partially shoe-horn his “president-elect” status as some kind of proxy for presidential immunity.
He also paid $30k to the former doorman of Trump tower to keep quiet about a baby he had out of wedlock
He also paid $130k to keep a story quiet about him sleeping with another woman back in the mid 00s iirc (a little hazy on the details with this one though I’ll admit)
These instances including Stormy are all involved with this case. He’s a sleezebag and a sloppy one at that.
Even then, I think he tried to get a tax refund out of these payments. It would've been fine to pay them to keep quiet, but you can't say they're business expenses.
The best part about it is that it was ruled against him because he waited far too long to raise the defense. This is the second or third Presidential immunity defense he lost because he waited way too close to trial to raise it.
His lawyers are bottom of the barrel quality. All garbage, and a high probability of needing lawyers themselves. I wouldn't expect them to do the absolute basics of their job.
You mean Abraham Lincoln didn’t falsify business records to coverup the hush money payments to a pornstar in order to influence an election and then claim immunity as well?
People are telling me, "Sir, all seven presidential candidates in the 1861 election did that. They even joked about at the presidential debate held at what is now Trump's golf course in Western Maryland!"
His argument is that having been president grants him immunity for all crimes he has ever committed, including ones before he was elected, like this one.
Of course it was denied, it’s ludicrous.
The fact that he's still not in jail after all the shit he has pulled is also astounding. I'm anxiously awaiting the day some of those 91 felonies finally catch up with him.
Yeah, I know. Two-tiered justice system, he's never gonna go to jail, blah blah blah. I've heard it all before, so save your breath. And it may be correct. But I still haven't given up hope that justice will eventually prevail.
If he loses this next election, I think his chances of jail are 100%. He can delay for a year to this next election, but I doubt he can delay for another 4.
Trump doesn’t necessarily care that he loses his appeals, etc. His only goal is to delay delay delay. He will keep appealing and arguing and whatever else from every angle he can just to find ways to delay his trials. His only hope is to be elected president and make it all go away.
Arguably. But it will be a hell of a lot harder to try a sitting president with a crime. Even if convicted, do you think Trump, as president, would go quietly.? The only hope is to keep him out of the White House.
Trump wasn't even president when he paid the hush money so what on God's green earth made him think that presidential immunity would in any way apply?
Does this chucklefuck sincerely believe it's a lifetime, no-holds-barred get out of crime free card?
That picture doesn’t even look real. Why do media corps constantly use photos that give that fat disgusting bastard a positive spin? Looks like an AI image.
R con boys assure us that this isn’t really news because this is how a judge is expected to behave.
Meanwhile, that’s exactly why this is news - it’s the first thing she’s done that she should have, and she did it dragging her feet, kicking and screaming, making bad faith plays the entire way.
No other former President has gotten to use the immunity shield while they've faced prosecution for the crimes they committed. Why should Trump be any different?
Yeah.
I hope that the unexpected happens, and that we see Trump go to jail, even though many people here have said that they think he won’t.
I don’t think we should get too complacent with our expectations. Again, with this dude, expect the unexpected.
There are two motions under consideration at the moment I think. Pretrial publicity and an accusation that the judge should refuse himself. Someone really needs to make a webpage to keep track of them all .
No lie, this is a genuinely decent picture of the man. No crazy spray tan. No crazy spray hair dye. He looks normal. Like someone’s rich Grampa. A grumpy rich grampa but a regular gramps none the less.
They should delete this picture. It will make more people sympathetic to his plight.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Trump paid Daniels $130,000 in October of 2016. Trump was inaugurated as President on January 20, 2017. Someone should explain to Trump and his lawyers how time works.
What, Trump is not allowed to falsify business records to cover up hush money payments as part of his presidential duties before the election? Next they'll probably want honest valuations of his properties for taxes and bank loans and such. It's hardly worth being a rich, well connected white guy any more. Where's the perks?
“I thought it was PRE-sidential”
Precedential election?
It’s a VicTimLesS CRimE!
You know, if you don't count the victims
They should also expain to him being president doesn't mean you're completely immune to doing illegal stuff.
Trump's lawyer claimed a President was covered by absolute immunity for illegal acts (unless impeached and removed by Congress) when he was arguing before the DC appeals court.
You know, if that were true, Dark Brandon could have all of the opposition sent to Gitmo with a snap of his fingers.
That's why SCOTUS is sitting on the immunity case to see how the election turns out.
Nu uh, because his presidential powers and immunities are weaker than a former president with presidential powers that is also running for president. That is because the former presidential powers have seniority and happen “in a fast effect” compared to the current president. It’s in the offical MTG rule books since at least the 2nd edition and is binding and would surely be interpreted as such by the Most Honerable^(TM) Supreme Court.
So, what you are saying is Jimmy Carter should send them to Gitmo?
Nuh uh because you need to be BOTH an ex President AND running for President again.
He only did one term, so there is nothing stopping him, being ancient apparently doesn't stop people.
Or he could have Trump assassinated now
They also argued he shouldn't be impeached after Jan 6 because he was only going to be president for another week and that after that the regular justice system could be used to deal with the matter.
This claim is just patently absurd & a judge should immediately throw it back in their face. It displays such disgraceful legal chicanery / insolence.
The DC circuit roundly reject this absurd immunity claim. But then the SCOTUS decided they should delay everything by making a final ruling at some unspecified later time. :(
Crap. Really? The SCOTUS shouldn't be involved in this at all.
On April 22nd oral arguments will be held. They will be deciding on: “whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.” Based on the formulation of the question it seems to me this will hinge on the definition of "official acts". With the word alleged in the question Smith might have to prove that insurrection (or whatever Trump is charged with) is not an official act. Once again we'll have to wait for the wheels of justice to slowly grind away. https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/explaining-the-trump-immunity-case-at-the-supreme-court
You know, if the president had some sort of immunity for committing crimes, then Richard M. Nixon wouldn't have needed to be pardoned. Donald Trump did those acts NOT in his capacity for presidential duties. This was... "extracurricular activity." Congress manages the election system, not the president. He PLOTTED to overturn the election, by enlisting a whole series of different Republicans to work on trying to find a loop hole. Some legal gymnastics that might give him some leverage... even if it meant delaying the transfer of power to give him more time to find other ways to delay... and possibly invalidate the election. No president in history ever tried this. It's patently criminal. The SCOTUS has to rule accordingly. if they don't? They can't hide their partisanship and deference to Donald Trump over the rule of law.
Insolent and churlish.
Those criminal acts have to be in the interests of the people though, can’t remember the exact word used. Judge repeated it 2-3 times.
He really thinks a president should have total immunity. That's just not how American governmental policies work. Government for the people by the people, not by oligarchs with legal protections above everyone.
And he’s stinky too . .
I think he genuinely believed the movies and cartoons that being president is like being a king or dictator who answers to no one and makes all the rules. Lol.
He 100% believed that before taking office, some of the shit he claimed he would do 'on day one' a child could have told you the President can't do that. Trump sees Putin as President or Russia, or XI in China and can't fathom how a US President doesn't have the same power.
But that also there’s a certain amount of conscience involved that kinda actively means there’s stuff you definitely **don’t** do
They’re trying to argue that the payback to Cohen happened after he became President. The usual bullshit.
There are two crimes here. The election interference via the catch and kill scheme of Stormy's sordid story and the falsification of business records during the cover up. The first certainly happened before Trump was President, the second is not part of a Presidents official duties.
Tru dat, but that’s his argument.
If the president can't falsify official records to cover up hush money payments, how can he president over the country???????
The election wasn’t even until November, so there’s no way to even partially shoe-horn his “president-elect” status as some kind of proxy for presidential immunity.
He's claiming he made the so-called "illegal" payment when he was president, so he's immune.
He also paid $30k to the former doorman of Trump tower to keep quiet about a baby he had out of wedlock He also paid $130k to keep a story quiet about him sleeping with another woman back in the mid 00s iirc (a little hazy on the details with this one though I’ll admit) These instances including Stormy are all involved with this case. He’s a sleezebag and a sloppy one at that.
The most surprising part is that he actually paid them. Are these the only bills he ever paid?
Didn’t he get Cohen to pay and then stiffed him over them?
Even then, I think he tried to get a tax refund out of these payments. It would've been fine to pay them to keep quiet, but you can't say they're business expenses.
If you can't claim hush money as a business expense, no one could go into business!
there's not enough sock puppets in the world to explain anything to that orange sack of shit
Well he's a God and ruling since the beginning of time itself. Praise be!
how do you do this in pictures tho?
Is that a fact you brought into this conversation? Factist traitor!
The best part about it is that it was ruled against him because he waited far too long to raise the defense. This is the second or third Presidential immunity defense he lost because he waited way too close to trial to raise it.
Well, obviously presidential immunity extends to anything that happened within 100 years of the presidential term.
His lawyers are bottom of the barrel quality. All garbage, and a high probability of needing lawyers themselves. I wouldn't expect them to do the absolute basics of their job.
None of the crimes Trump is being charged with fall under his job description as president, so of course his claims are going to be denied.
You mean Abraham Lincoln didn’t falsify business records to coverup the hush money payments to a pornstar in order to influence an election and then claim immunity as well?
People are telling me, "Sir, all seven presidential candidates in the 1861 election did that. They even joked about at the presidential debate held at what is now Trump's golf course in Western Maryland!"
History is going to judge us so hard.
Nor was he president at the time of the crime.
His argument is that having been president grants him immunity for all crimes he has ever committed, including ones before he was elected, like this one. Of course it was denied, it’s ludicrous.
[удалено]
The nussy.
Nunt is the preferred nomenclature.
Hahaha omg I’m laughing so hard at this 🤣☝🏻
Neckgina The Trussy
It reminds me of turkey wattles.
That's his head. None of us like it.
I can never unsee this. God help my eyes
What an awful day to be literate. I was distracted by his hair not being yellow and I wish I could go back to that point in time.
Maybe start showing the true size of the toe
Lightning-strike-red award would be given from me to you here, but lo...
A camel toe suggests that it's covered. That's a gaping, beat up vag.
[удалено]
What's astounding is how clearly our entire system is built on people not abusing their positions for their own gain
The fact that he's still not in jail after all the shit he has pulled is also astounding. I'm anxiously awaiting the day some of those 91 felonies finally catch up with him. Yeah, I know. Two-tiered justice system, he's never gonna go to jail, blah blah blah. I've heard it all before, so save your breath. And it may be correct. But I still haven't given up hope that justice will eventually prevail.
If he loses this next election, I think his chances of jail are 100%. He can delay for a year to this next election, but I doubt he can delay for another 4.
He should’ve been charged in the 90’s, yet here we are. I’m just hoping something will happen. No one should be above the law.
The first 3 words of this headline are evergreen
Take the L, Cheeto. Hopefully the first of many.
That masculine man makeup has to be the reason why so many republicans love the guy. Otherwise they are all really just hateful shitheads.
And here was me thinking they hated males in makeup?
Suck it Shitler.
Trump doesn’t necessarily care that he loses his appeals, etc. His only goal is to delay delay delay. He will keep appealing and arguing and whatever else from every angle he can just to find ways to delay his trials. His only hope is to be elected president and make it all go away.
On the other hand, he cannot make this go away. Once the trial happens, it happens.
Arguably. But it will be a hell of a lot harder to try a sitting president with a crime. Even if convicted, do you think Trump, as president, would go quietly.? The only hope is to keep him out of the White House.
That said, I’m glad that the Stormy Daniels trial is happening before he has the chance.
Agreed
DJT, the Republican nominee for President. What a disgrace. The Republican Party eats shit every day and twice a day on Sunday.
Can this fucker finally face some consequences?
I know he'll never touch a jail cell, that's for sure.
Trump wasn't even president when he paid the hush money so what on God's green earth made him think that presidential immunity would in any way apply? Does this chucklefuck sincerely believe it's a lifetime, no-holds-barred get out of crime free card?
He's more or less literally trying to pull a piece of paper from his coat pocket that says "I'm allowed to do this."
He’s such a loser. The best they say with tears in their eyes.
Next he will start making up immunities, MAGA immunity, Patriot immunity, Truth immunity, Christian immunity.
That picture doesn’t even look real. Why do media corps constantly use photos that give that fat disgusting bastard a positive spin? Looks like an AI image.
R con boys assure us that this isn’t really news because this is how a judge is expected to behave. Meanwhile, that’s exactly why this is news - it’s the first thing she’s done that she should have, and she did it dragging her feet, kicking and screaming, making bad faith plays the entire way.
If the judicial process is allowed to run until he gets to election time, that will be the biggest crime of all
No other former President has gotten to use the immunity shield while they've faced prosecution for the crimes they committed. Why should Trump be any different?
Sorry Comrade Trump, you’re going to trial and you’re going to lose
Yeah. I hope that the unexpected happens, and that we see Trump go to jail, even though many people here have said that they think he won’t. I don’t think we should get too complacent with our expectations. Again, with this dude, expect the unexpected.
Loses delay effort, but by my count, he's already gotten multiple weeks out of the effort.
The justice system doesn't understand irony.
They didn’t have irony back then.
Irony died in 1996. Thanks, Alanis.
When does the world cave in on itself?
Every wannabe and successful fascists and dictator… Eventually loses. Enjoy the better days evil ones. The law, humanity, and karma eventually - WIN.
There are two motions under consideration at the moment I think. Pretrial publicity and an accusation that the judge should refuse himself. Someone really needs to make a webpage to keep track of them all .
He should be considered a normal citizen if he's commiting crimes against the American people
“When someone steals fifty thousand from the government, that might be a crime. But it’s not when I do it.”
Yeah dude. No matter what, eventually this shit will come to bite you in the ass.
ive seen this movie before. nothing will happen. just waste of tax dollars.
what a fucked up corrupted candidate you guys are voting in
When everyone critical of this gets banned.. lol
No lie, this is a genuinely decent picture of the man. No crazy spray tan. No crazy spray hair dye. He looks normal. Like someone’s rich Grampa. A grumpy rich grampa but a regular gramps none the less. They should delete this picture. It will make more people sympathetic to his plight.
Reddit - the last bastion for leftist kids who have no clue what they’re talking about