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The Closing: Trump’s Final Argument Must Be Clarity to Chaos in Merchan’s Courtroom

JonathanTurley

Trump’s lawyers are defending a former president who is charged under a state misdemeanor which died years ago under the statute of limitations. The only crime that was clearly established in his trial was the grand larceny that Cohen admitted to under oath (after the statute of limitations had run out).

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Bragg and the Jackson Pollock School of Prosecution: Why the Trump Trial Could End With a Hung Jury

JonathanTurley

Bragg has achieved the same effect by regenerating a dead misdemeanor on falsifying business records as 34 felony counts. To achieve that extraordinary goal, he has alleged that the document violations (which expired long ago under the statute of limitations) were committed to hide some other crime. Jonathan Turley is the J.B.

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Plan B From Outer Manhattan: Why the Court Should Move the Trump Trial Out of Manhattan

JonathanTurley

Given Bragg’s failure to even state the key offense allowing him to bring these 34 felonies, Merchan should have scheduled a hearing on the threshold legal questions in two weeks — not schedule all motions to be heard in December. Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at The George Washington University.

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“America’s Got Trump”: Get Ready for a Truly Made-for-TV Prosecution

JonathanTurley

Yet, there was no hue and cry for this type of prosecution in Washington or New York. The only way to convert it into a Class E felony requires a showing that the “intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” A Section 175 charge would normally be a misdemeanor.

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California Dreaming: Newsom’s Kidnapping Claim Against DeSantis is Long on Politics and Short on the Law

JonathanTurley

Newsom cited the kidnapping statute but apparently failed to read it or the underlying cases. While there is a fair debate over the policy of relocation by states like Texas and Florida, the effort to use the criminal process as part of that political debate is … well, pathetic.

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The Odor of Mendacity: 2024 Could Turn on Smell of Selective Prosecution from Georgia to New York

JonathanTurley

In New York, the legislature changed the statute of limitations to allow Trump to be sued while New York Attorney General Letitia James effectively ran on a pledge of selectively prosecuting him. Shapiro professor of Public Interest Law at the George Washington University Law School. Jonathan Turley is the J.B.

Statute 82
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Hats Off to Hillary: Prosecuting Trump in the Shadow of Clinton’s Emails

JonathanTurley

The three cited statutes do not require classified status for a crime but two deal with the unlawful possession or handling of defense or sensitive information.) Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanTurley.