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President Trump, refusing to be silenced by a leftwing judge and Soros-funded prosecutor, is facing scrutiny for sharing a video of his allies exposing the conflicts of interest in the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case.
Jury selection is still underway for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s lawfare case against Trump. Last April, Trump was hit with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy.
The far-left judge overseeing the Stormy Daniels trial trampled all over Trump’s First Amendment rights with a strict gag order.
Juan Merchan earlier this month expanded Trump’s gag order to bar Trump from making factual statements about the judge’s far-left family members after it was learned that the judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is a far-left political operative who worked for the Biden-Harris campaign and received tens of MILLIONS of dollars from Democrats who want to take down Trump.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, prosecutors are now seeking to hold President Trump in contempt for ‘violating’ the gag order and asking the court to impose sanctions while threatening Trump with jail time if he continues to speak out against this political witch hunt.
“Donald Trump did nothing wrong,” Laura Loomer began chanting outside the courthouse before she and Andrew Giuliani ripped into Judge Merchan, his wife, Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg, and Bragg’s star witness, admitted perjurer Michael Cohen.
“The facts–think about this–are so weak in this case that Joe Biden would not even bring this case. That’s how bad this is. It took a Soros funded District Attorney in order to bring this case. There’s no underlying felony,” exclaimed the son of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
As Bradley Smith, Institute for Free Speech Chairman, Capital University law professor, and former Federal Election Commission Chairman, notes in an op-ed for The Federalist, the made-up felony charges against Trump are completely baseless, setting aside the clear conflicts of interest with the prosecution and the judge.
DA Alvin Bragg argues that Trump falsified business records in order to “conceal crimes that hid information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election” and “boost his electoral prospects.” Under this theory, Bragg claims that Trump violated campaign finance laws by not publicly reporting so-called campaign expenditures to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
However, as Smith writes,
Misreporting business expenses is normally, at most, a misdemeanor. Bragg seeks to ratchet it up to a felony here by arguing that the misreporting was done to cover up a crime. That alleged crime is a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). The theory is that Trump’s payments to Daniels were campaign expenditures and thus needed to be publicly reported as such. By not reporting the expenditure, the theory goes, Trump prevented the public from knowing information that might have influenced their votes.
But let’s think about this for a minute. Political candidates do things all the time that are “for the purpose of influencing an election,” but that, nonetheless, are not considered campaign expenditures. For example, a candidate cannot buy a new suit, get his teeth whitened, or pay for cosmetic surgery with campaign funds, even if he does so for the purpose of looking good on the campaign trail.
That’s because, in campaign finance law, these types of expenditures are known as “personal use.” FECA specifically prohibits the conversion of campaign funds to personal use, defined as any expenditure “used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the candidate’s election campaign.”
Does anyone really think a candidate should be able to use campaign funds to settle lawsuits, or threatened lawsuits, arising from activities that occurred long before his candidacy? It’s stressful being a candidate, and a little relaxation may make the candidate more effective on the stump. Does that mean your campaign contribution should pay for a candidate massage? How about a country club membership, or tickets to the Super Bowl (after all, the candidate might take along a potential donor)?
Herein lies the most frightening part of this prosecution: Had Trump made these payments with campaign funds, it seems a near certainty he would now be facing criminal charges for a knowing and willful diversion of campaign funds to pay personal obligations. If Bragg’s prosecution is successful, it will mean a candidate can use campaign funds to pay almost any obligation that, the candidate might argue, would benefit his candidacy. Perhaps worse, zealous prosecutors could get a candidate coming or going — falsification of records if campaign funds are not used, and illegal personal use if campaign funds are used.
President Trump Truthed the following video from today’s protest outside the courthouse:
Loomer: We’re gonna be here every single day, talking to all of you fake news media freaks and letting you know that Donald Trump did nothing wrong until you start to report the truth. Judge Merchan’s wife literally worked for Letitia James. Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Andrew Laufer’s, Twitter profile banner is a photo of him with Letitia James, talking about getting Trump. He said that he had fundraisers for Kamala Harris. Tell me that this isn’t the witch hunt. How is this fair? How is this fair to Donald Trump?
Giuliani: You’re absolutely right. We’ve got to be out of here for President Trump. Let them know that he did nothing wrong. Let them know this is a political persecution by prosecution of the leading candidate for President of the United States. That’s what’s going on here. That’s what’s going on in the United States of America. The facts–think about this–are so weak in this case that Joe Biden would not even bring this case. That’s how bad this is. It took a Soros funded District Attorney in order to bring this case. There’s no underlying felony.
Shortly after posting this, Politico criticized Trump for “test[ing] the boundaries of the gag.”
Donald Trump doesn’t need to oblige the communist, crooked Judge Merchan.
If they arrest Trump he will raise over $100 MILLION.
Donald Trump Did Nothing Wrong!
He has a right to defend himself!
I will happily be a bullhorn in support of Trump since he’s been silenced! https://t.co/TN1g4RTaD5
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) April 15, 2024
Politico reports,
Even as prosecutors were seeking a contempt ruling against Donald Trump for violating the gag order in recent days, Trump once again tested the boundaries of the gag during the trial’s lunch break.
He posted a video of one of his prominent allies, Laura Loomer, announcing through a bullhorn that “Donald Trump did nothing wrong.” Notably, Loomer used the same moment to criticize Justice Juan Merchan’s wife for purportedly working for New York Attorney General Tish James, a Trump political foe. Loomer also criticized prosecutors’ star witness, Michael Cohen, for employing the services of a lawyer with ties to Trump’s political opponents.
While Loomer’s views are well known, Trump’s decision to amplify them on Truth Social could be viewed as violating the gag, which prohibits him from commenting on Merchan’s family members or any witnesses in the case.
The Gateway Pundit will continue to provide updates on the ongoing jury selection in Alvin Bragg’s election interference case against Donald Trump.
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