Five things to remember about a ‘zombie’ Trump indictment | Washington Examiner

The problem is, even if Trump were guilty, that is a misdemeanor, which has a two-year statute of limitations in New York 2017 was five years ago, so you can see the problem. Now Bragg wants to use a feature of the falsification law, which says that falsification of business records can be charged as a felony if the falsification was done to conceal a crime. Then the statute of limitations would be five years.

But what crime was Trump allegedly trying to conceal? Bragg has apparently decided to charge Trump with violating campaign finance laws because Trump did not report the payoff to Daniels as a campaign expense. That raises the question: Does one normally report hush money, which sounds illicit but is in fact legal under the loftier name of a “nondisclosure agreement,” on a campaign finance report? It’s a stretch to see that as a crime. Even the New York Times has characterized Bragg’s theory as “a low-level felony charge that would be based on a largely untested legal theory.”

There are other complicating factors, as well. The campaign finance charge would be an alleged violation of federal election law, while Bragg enforces the laws of New York. (Federal prosecutors have already considered and rejected charging Trump in this matter.) Then, even if the case has a five-year statute of limitations, there are still questions about the timing. The final reimbursement payment to Cohen was made in December 2017, more than five years ago. Bragg will apparently try to argue that the accounting and bookkeeping took longer, stretching into 2018, and thus the case, if charges are filed this month, can be squeezed in at the last minute to fit the five-year limit.

Several experts have pronounced the prosecution a weak and convoluted affair. “This is a really dumb case,” wrote former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy. “I don’t like this case,” said Michael Zeldin, another former federal prosecutor. “I don’t think it is, from what we know in the public domain … the type of case that should go forward criminally.” “Legally pathetic,” added George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley.

via www.washingtonexaminer.com

Brian York. A dark day yet a ridiculous day.