Monday, Monday…..Going to be Good to Us!

Yes, folks. Tomorrow morning the FUN starts!

Finally, the day has come. Donald J. Treasonous Traitor, Narcissistic, Sex Maniac, Rapist, Liar, HAS to be in the courtroom in New York for his 34 count “I paid off my porn star girlfriend” trial. I’ve heard a lot of speculation about this trial, but it all boils down to what starts tomorrow and is expected t last upwards of three weeks. Jury selection!

The Trump attorneys have tried every legal maneuver they could come up with, and everything else be they were told of to try by their client, but nothing made it past the judge. Not even the “Truth Social” posting if their client. As a matter of fact, his posting got him into another ‘gag order’ which was extended to include court personnel and their families.

(Stephanie A. Gregory, aka ‘Stormy Daniels/Wikipedia image)

You know, some people just never learn. I guess that’s where the narcissistic tendencies come out. He just can’t help himself. He’s got to make everything about him. It’s always someone else’s fault, and no one can do anything but him.  I do hate that he the bubble buster here, but this nation is way older than he is, and it’s been surviving just fine.

Anyway, jury selection is probably going to make or break this case for the prosecution. One wrong person on the jury, it’s ‘game over’! He will walk, a free man, no matter how Rick solid their evidence is. Fr m what I’ve heard, and seen, so far, their case is solid, even without anyone testifying. If they just presented the documents, Trump is screwed! Andrew, what’s nice is if he’s found guilty on all 34 counts, he’s facing almost 150 years in prison, New York State Prison as a matter of fact. And, on top of all that, he can’t be pardoned by himself, or anyone else because it’s a state crime, not federal.

So, tomorrow morning, we start having fun!!! Finally!

Here’s an article from Wikipedia. It lays this case out much better than Ivan tell it.

Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal

On January 12, 2018, The Wall Street Journalreported that in October 2016, just before the 2016 United States presidential election, Michael Cohen, lawyer for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, arranged a payment of US$130,000 to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to stop her disclosing an affair she and Trump allegedly had in July 2006.^[1][2] Daniels had signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). At first, Cohen denied Trump had the alleged affair and sought to suppress the allegation based on the NDA, but a month later publicly acknowledged making the payment.

Besides allegations surrounding the details of the affair itself, the acknowledged payment raised legal and ethical questions as to whether the payment violated federal campaign finance laws, either because the payment was not duly disclosed as a campaign contribution or because campaign funds may have been used towards the payment.^[3] On February 13, Cohen said he paid the money out of his own pocket, not as a campaign contribution; and that neither The Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign reimbursed him for making it.^[4] On April 5, Trump said he had no knowledge of Cohen's payment; but on April 26 admitted for the first time that Cohen represented him in "the Stormy Daniels deal". On May 2, Trump's new lawyer Rudy Giulianisaid that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the payment.^[5]

In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges, including a campaign finance violation for Daniels's payment. He stated under oath that he paid her "in coordination with and at the direction of a candidate for federal office". Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison on various charges, and was disbarred.^[6]

Daniels filed three lawsuits against Trump and/or Cohen. In the first lawsuit she argued that the NDA was invalid. She won the lawsuit, though it was dismissed after Trump and Cohen agreed not to enforce the NDA.^[7] A California court subsequently ordered Trump pay $44,100 to reimburse her legal fees.^[8] She lost the second lawsuit, in which she argued she was defamed, and was ordered to pay almost $300,000 in legal fees and court sanctions.^[9] In the third lawsuit she claimed that Cohen colluded with her previous attorney Keith Davidsonagainst her interests when he negotiated the payment. The lawsuit did not name Trump as a defendant, and settled in May 2019.^[10]

Trump's accounting firm, Mazars, provided his tax returns and related documents to the Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., following the outcome of the Supreme Court's Trump v. Vanceruling in February 2021.^[11] Although an internal report said there was "reason to believe" Trump's campaign had knowingly violated campaign finance law, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) abandoned an inquiry into the payment to Daniels. The FEC's vote on May 6, 2021, split 2–2 along party lines.^[12]

On March 30, 2023, a Manhattan grand juryindicted Trump for his alleged role in the scandal. Trump was arraigned in the Manhattan district court on April 4.^[13]

Allegation and non-disclosure agreement

In October 2011, both the blog The Dirty and the magazine Life & Style published the first reports of an alleged July 2006 affair between Trump and Daniels (the latter took a polygraph test).^[14][15]Daniels talked about the alleged affair with the gossip magazine In Touch Weekly, who chose not to publish the interview after Cohen threatened to sue the magazine around the same time.^[16] The Wall Street Journal reported on January 12, 2018, that Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in October 2016, a month before the election, to stop her discussing the alleged affair.^[1][2]

Cohen denied the existence of the affair on behalf of his client Donald Trump on January 14^[17] but acknowledged on February 13 that he paid Daniels $130,000.

Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump on March 6, 2018, claiming that the non-disclosure agreement she signed about the alleged affair was invalid since Trump never personally signed it despite acknowledging that she accepted the payment made in exchange for her silence in the matter.^[18][19] It also alleged that Trump's attorney tried to intimidate Daniels and "scare her into not talking". Cohen initiated an ex parte arbitration process the next day that resulted in an order barring Daniels from disclosing "confidential information" related to the non-disclosure agreement. The order that Daniels's lawyers called "bogus" was to remain confidential.^[20]

In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired March 25, 2018, Daniels said that she and Trump had sex once. She also said that she was threatened in front of her infant daughter after a fitness class in Las Vegas in 2011. The threat pressured her to later sign a non-disclosure agreement.^[18][19][21]

FBI agents raided Cohen's office and seized emails, tax documents, and business records relating to several matters, including the payment to Daniels, on April 9, 2018.^[22]

Read the full article!!! It’s truly interesting!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Daniels%E2%80%93Donald_Trump_scandal

References

1. Rothfeld, Michael; Palazzolo, Joe (January 12, 2018). "Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star's Silence". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2020.

A lawyer for President Donald Trump arranged a $130,000 payment to a former adult-film star a month before the 2016 election as part of an agreement that precluded her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.

1. Prokop, Andrew (January 12, 2018). "Wall Street Journal: Trump's lawyer arranged $130,000 in hush money for an ex-porn star". Vox. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 14,2018.

At the height of the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump's personal lawyer reportedly arranged a payment of $130,000 to a former porn star, so she'd stay silent about an affair she'd had with Trump.

1. Luckhurst, Toby (May 3, 2018). "Why the Stormy Daniels-Donald Trump story matters". BBC News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2019.

2. Haberman, Maggie (February 13, 2018). "Trump's Longtime Lawyer Says He Paid Stormy Daniels Out of His Own Pocket". The New York Times. Archivedfrom the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.

3. Eisen, Norman; Canter, Virginia (May 3, 2018). "Flashback: Stormy Daniels on '60 Minutes' makes Donald Trump's legal problems even worse". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2018.

4. "Michael Cohen has been disbarred". NBC News. February 26, 2019. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.

5. "US judge dismisses Stormy Daniels's lawsuit against President Donald Trump to end their NDA". ABC News. March 8, 2019. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.

6. Whalen, Jeanne (August 22, 2020). "Court orders Trump to pay Stormy Daniels $44,100 to cover her legal fees". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 22,2020.

7. Stevens, Matt (December 11, 2018). "Stormy Daniels Ordered to Pay Trump $293,000 in Legal Fees". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2020.

8. Finnegan, Michael (May 17, 2019). "Stormy Daniels settles suit against Michael Cohen in hush-money scandal". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.

9. Scannell, Kara; Prokupecz, Shimon; Cole, Devan (February 25, 2021). "Trump's tax returns and related records turned over to Manhattan district attorney". CNN. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.

10. "Stormy Daniels: US election officials drop Trump hush money probe". BBC News. May 7, 2021. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.

11. Breuninger, Dan Mangan, Kevin. "Trump arraignment live updates: Ex-president arrested at courthouse before hearing". CNBC. Retrieved April 4, 2023.

12. Palazzolo, Joe; Hong, Nicole; Rothfeld, Michael; Davis O'Brien, Rebecca; Ballhaus, Rebecca (November 9, 2018). "Donald Trump Played Central Role in Hush Payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2020.

13. Borchers, Callum (March 10, 2018). "Stormy Daniels has successfully navigated the media 'puke funnel'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.

14. Pearson, Jake (January 19, 2018). "Tabloid held porn star's 2011 interview after Trump threat". Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.

15. Stern, Marlow; Snow, Aurora (January 12, 2018). "Porn Star: Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels Invited Me to Their Hotel Room". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.

Cohen on Friday did not address the alleged payout to Daniels but provided the following statement to The Daily Beast: "These rumors have circulated time and again since 2011. President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence as has Ms. Daniels." The attorney also provided a letter dated Jan. 10, 2018, allegedly signed by Daniels, that denied any "sexual and/or romantic affair" with Trump or the receipt of any "hush money" from Trump.

1. "Stormy Daniels describes her alleged affair with Donald Trump". 60 Minutes (website ed.). CBS News. March 25, 2018. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018. Includes video and transcript.

2. Parks, Miles (March 25, 2018). "Stormy Daniels Shares Graphic Details About Alleged Affair With Trump". NPR. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.

3. Fitzpatrick, Sarah (March 8, 2018). "Trump lawyer Michael Cohen tries to silence adult-film star Stormy Daniels". NBC News. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2018.

4. "'It was my most terrifying experience – and I've seen Trump naked!': Stormy Daniels on standup, tarot and reality TV". The Guardian. January 27, 2023. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.

5. Apuzzo, Matt (April 9, 2018). "F.B.I. Raids Office of Trump's Longtime Lawyer Michael Cohen". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.