Rumpole
Diamond Member
- Mar 20, 2023
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Bragg bats back, better.
In my view, DA NY Alan Bragg, defying characterizations highly critical of him, delivered a powerful speech on the matter of the indictment of Donald Trump. It was a refreshingly hard, cold, just-the-facts, m'am no spin conference. I was worried, as a liberal Democrat, that this indictment was below the presidency, that it was too trivial for a man who is the ex President of the United states. Bragg skillfully disabused me of that fear. I believe it will, or at least it should, in my view, do the same for others who might be harboring a similar fear. Those of you on the right might disagree, but I ask you to maintain an open mind, and at least give Bragg his due, as there has been much criticism on Bragg, from the left and the right. You can read the transcript of you don't prefer a video, however, the video has a much greater impact (to me, of course).
Transcript below, but here are the Cliff Notes:
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office held a press conference to announce the indictment of Donald Trump on charges of falsifying business records in the first degree. The indictment was returned by a grand jury and was based on evidence that Trump repeatedly made false statements on New York business records in order to cover up crimes related to the election. The evidence will show that he did so as part of a catch-and-kill scheme to suppress negative information about himself and improve his chances of winning the election. This involved making payments to people who claimed to have negative information, setting up shell companies, and making false statements in American Media Incorporated business records. The indictment also cites the wire payment to Stormy Daniels and the false statements about payments to Michael Cohen as additional examples of criminal conduct. The DA's office emphasized the importance of true and accurate business records, especially in Manhattan, and vowed to enforce white-collar crime.
For those who prefer the video, here is the link, but Q&A session wasn't included in the transcript. (Note, transcript taken from YT, no editing or spell checking, etc., was done)
www.youtube.com
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us here today. Earlier this afternoon, Donald Trump was arraigned on a New York Supreme Court indictment returned by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and an intent to conceal another crime.
That is exactly what this case is about - 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.
The defendant repeatedly made false statements on New York business records. He also caused others to make false statements. The defendant claimed that he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017. This simply was not true, and it was a false statement that the defendant made month after month in April 2017, May, June and so on, through the rest of the year,
For nine straight months, the defendant held documents in his hand containing this key lie that he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017. And he personally signed checks for payments to Michael Cohen for each of these nine months. In total, the grand jury found there were 34 documents with this critical false statement.
Why did Donald Trump repeatedly make these false statements? The evidence will show that he did so to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election. Donald Trump, executives at the publishing company American Media Incorporated, Mr. Cohen, and others agreed in 2015 to a catch-and-kill scheme - that is a scheme to buy and suppress negative information to help Mr. Trump's chance of winning the election.
As part of this scheme, Donald Trump and others made three payments to people who claim to have negative information about Mr. Trump. To make these payments, they set up shell companies and they made yet more false statements, including, for example, in AMI, American Media Incorporated business records.[AMI publishes the National Enquirer --Rumpole]
One of the three people that they paid to keep quiet was a woman named Stormy Daniels. Less than two weeks before the presidential election, Michael Cohen wired to Stormy Daniels' lawyer. That payment was to hide damaging information from the voting public. The participant scheme was illegal. The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means. The wire payment exceeded the federal campaign contribution cap and the false statements in Ami's books violated New York law.
That is why Mr. Trump made false statements about his payments to Mr. Cohen. He could not simply say that the payments were a reimbursement for Mr. Cohen's payments to Stormy Daniels. To do so, to make that true statement, would have been to admit a crime. So, instead, Mr. Trump said that he was paying Mr. Cohen for fictitious legal services in to cover up actual crime committed the prior year and in order to get Michael Cohen his money back.
They planned one last false statement. In order to complete the scheme, they planned to mischaracterize the repayments to Mr. Cohen as income to the New York state tax authorities.
The conduct I just described and that which was charged by the grand jury is felony criminal conduct in New York state. True and accurate business records are important everywhere. To be sure, they are all the more important in Manhattan, the financial center of the world.
That is why we have a history in the Manhattan DA's office of vigorously enforcing white-collar crime. My office, including the talented prosecutors you saw at arraignment earlier today, has charged hundreds of felony falsifying business records. This charge, it can be said, is the bread and butter of our white
In my view, DA NY Alan Bragg, defying characterizations highly critical of him, delivered a powerful speech on the matter of the indictment of Donald Trump. It was a refreshingly hard, cold, just-the-facts, m'am no spin conference. I was worried, as a liberal Democrat, that this indictment was below the presidency, that it was too trivial for a man who is the ex President of the United states. Bragg skillfully disabused me of that fear. I believe it will, or at least it should, in my view, do the same for others who might be harboring a similar fear. Those of you on the right might disagree, but I ask you to maintain an open mind, and at least give Bragg his due, as there has been much criticism on Bragg, from the left and the right. You can read the transcript of you don't prefer a video, however, the video has a much greater impact (to me, of course).
Transcript below, but here are the Cliff Notes:
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office held a press conference to announce the indictment of Donald Trump on charges of falsifying business records in the first degree. The indictment was returned by a grand jury and was based on evidence that Trump repeatedly made false statements on New York business records in order to cover up crimes related to the election. The evidence will show that he did so as part of a catch-and-kill scheme to suppress negative information about himself and improve his chances of winning the election. This involved making payments to people who claimed to have negative information, setting up shell companies, and making false statements in American Media Incorporated business records. The indictment also cites the wire payment to Stormy Daniels and the false statements about payments to Michael Cohen as additional examples of criminal conduct. The DA's office emphasized the importance of true and accurate business records, especially in Manhattan, and vowed to enforce white-collar crime.
Note to mods: As I understand copyright law (though I'm not a lawyer, I do have experience in the copyright arena), Title 17 allows the reprint of transcripts of public officials giving conferences, talks, speeches, etc., when it is part of their official duties, and therefore, such transcripts are public domain.
For those who prefer the video, here is the link, but Q&A session wasn't included in the transcript. (Note, transcript taken from YT, no editing or spell checking, etc., was done)
- YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us here today. Earlier this afternoon, Donald Trump was arraigned on a New York Supreme Court indictment returned by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Under New York state law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and an intent to conceal another crime.
That is exactly what this case is about - 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.
The defendant repeatedly made false statements on New York business records. He also caused others to make false statements. The defendant claimed that he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017. This simply was not true, and it was a false statement that the defendant made month after month in April 2017, May, June and so on, through the rest of the year,
For nine straight months, the defendant held documents in his hand containing this key lie that he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017. And he personally signed checks for payments to Michael Cohen for each of these nine months. In total, the grand jury found there were 34 documents with this critical false statement.
Why did Donald Trump repeatedly make these false statements? The evidence will show that he did so to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election. Donald Trump, executives at the publishing company American Media Incorporated, Mr. Cohen, and others agreed in 2015 to a catch-and-kill scheme - that is a scheme to buy and suppress negative information to help Mr. Trump's chance of winning the election.
As part of this scheme, Donald Trump and others made three payments to people who claim to have negative information about Mr. Trump. To make these payments, they set up shell companies and they made yet more false statements, including, for example, in AMI, American Media Incorporated business records.[AMI publishes the National Enquirer --Rumpole]
One of the three people that they paid to keep quiet was a woman named Stormy Daniels. Less than two weeks before the presidential election, Michael Cohen wired to Stormy Daniels' lawyer. That payment was to hide damaging information from the voting public. The participant scheme was illegal. The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means. The wire payment exceeded the federal campaign contribution cap and the false statements in Ami's books violated New York law.
That is why Mr. Trump made false statements about his payments to Mr. Cohen. He could not simply say that the payments were a reimbursement for Mr. Cohen's payments to Stormy Daniels. To do so, to make that true statement, would have been to admit a crime. So, instead, Mr. Trump said that he was paying Mr. Cohen for fictitious legal services in to cover up actual crime committed the prior year and in order to get Michael Cohen his money back.
They planned one last false statement. In order to complete the scheme, they planned to mischaracterize the repayments to Mr. Cohen as income to the New York state tax authorities.
The conduct I just described and that which was charged by the grand jury is felony criminal conduct in New York state. True and accurate business records are important everywhere. To be sure, they are all the more important in Manhattan, the financial center of the world.
That is why we have a history in the Manhattan DA's office of vigorously enforcing white-collar crime. My office, including the talented prosecutors you saw at arraignment earlier today, has charged hundreds of felony falsifying business records. This charge, it can be said, is the bread and butter of our white