# Manhattan Prosecutors file criminal charges for Trump re Stormy Daniels case - ongoing discussion here (Guilty on all 34 counts, May 30, 2024)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Tags:** trump\
**Created:** [March 9, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953 "2023-03-09T22:53:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 50

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/981 "2024-03-11T18:15:36Z")

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> [@simster](#):
>
> Weren’t these actions prior to his becoming president?

From the link posted above

_"Trump’s payments to Cohen — and the allegedly falsified business records — came after he was in the White House. "_

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**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/982 "2024-03-11T18:15:55Z")

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If Presidential candidates are not immune from prosecution then the winner could just lock up the loser. People would start chanting “lock her up”.

I mean, hypothetically, if the loser was female.

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/983 "2024-03-11T18:26:54Z")

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> [@simster](#):
>
> Weren’t these actions prior to his becoming president?

> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> It sounds like you’re trying to apply logic to this argument. That’s a mistake.

It’s quite logical from _his_ POV

1. Delay the trial until after the election
2. Win the election
3. ~~Profit!~~ Be President – and totally immune – for life

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**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/984 "2024-03-11T18:33:22Z")

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I don’t even joke anymore about folks conflating words like socialist and fascist. I’m convinced it’s part of a concerted effort by some on the right to dilute and ameliorate the effects of what those words really mean. First, we remove the historical context and mix up meanings, such that it merely becomes something with mildly kinda sorta general negative connotations. It takes power away from words like ‘fascism’ when we can push it two removes away from any specific evils associated with it. Once they’ve accomplished that, the left can fling around charges like ‘you’re acting like a fascist’ and it will mean little more to the casual listener than ‘I’m not happy about what you’re trying to do’.

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**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/985 "2024-03-11T18:37:10Z")

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I don’t envy the lawyers trying to put together the jury for any Trump case, I’ll tell you that much.

> **[Attorneys face unprecedented challenge in selecting jury for Trump's hush...](https://abcnews.go.com/US/attorneys-face-unprecedented-challenge-selecting-jury-trumps-hush/story?id=107900602)**
>
> As lawyers on both sides prepare for Donald Trump's New York hush money trial this month, here are four things to know about the jury that will hear the case.

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**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/986 "2024-03-11T20:16:44Z")

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> [@eschereal](#):
>
> _On the Internets, no one can tell that you are a LLM._
> 
> well, actually we can

Except, of course, for the ones that have gotten good enough to fool us.

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**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/987 "2024-03-14T20:27:49Z")

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Oh, look, another Garland Delay:

> <https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1768355148349280648?t=Hu0fTU01jGDSKe10v4wVMw&s=19>

This one for 30 days because, well, gosh, it seems that the Department of Justice decided to dump 76k pages of documents… including 31k just yesterday… and the defense team needs to review this shit.

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**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/988 "2024-03-14T20:34:20Z")

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More on last post:

[Manhattan Prosecutors Propose a 30-Day Delay of Trump Trial](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/14/nyregion/alvin-bragg-trump-trial-delay.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ck0.Et31.gVLrTs4l-RQK&smid=url-share)

> [@](#):
>
> Less than two weeks before Donald J. Trump is set to go on trial on criminal charges in Manhattan, the prosecutors who brought the case proposed a delay of up to 30 days, a startling development in the first prosecution of a former American president. . . .
> 
> The office sought the records more than a year ago, but only recently received them from federal prosecutors, who years ago investigated the hush-money payments at the center of the case.
> 
> In response to the new records — tens of thousands of pages of them — Mr. Trump’s lawyers requested that the trial be delayed 90 days.

More justice delayed, justice denied.

I do not blame Alvin Bragg. He seems to be doing the best he can to keep the case simple, but it is impossible.

I presume that the new records will not just delay trial start, but also increase trial length.

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**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/989 "2024-03-14T20:37:52Z")

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I know Trump likes to delay, but do you think it’s going to help him or hurt him to be going to trial during the election season? Better than being a convict I guess.

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**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/990 "2024-03-14T20:39:02Z")

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Wihdrawn

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/991 "2024-03-14T20:47:07Z")

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Trump filed a motion and asked for 90 days. In response Bragg proposed 30 days. The Judge will rule whether to grant any delay, and if so, how long.

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**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/992 "2024-03-14T20:47:34Z")

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Re last Odesio post, all delays help Trump.

Conviction with a possible probation sentence coming will not much hurt his political future.

Sentencing to incarceration would hurt him the most, since swing voters will doubt you can do the POTUS job from jail. And before he is sentenced, there needs to be a pre-sentencing report prepared. That will take months.

Someone who knows the New York system might say I am speaking from ignorance. But doesn’t today’s development make it unlikely he can be sentenced before election day?

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/993 "2024-03-14T21:04:45Z")

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> [@Odesio](#):
>
> I know Trump likes to delay, but do you think it’s going to help him or hurt him to be going to trial during the election season?

Hurt him, I think. Tie him up in court while he should be going to rallies. Spend campaign money on legal defences.

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**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/994 "2024-03-14T21:10:33Z")

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> [@PhillyGuy](#):
>
> Re last Odesio post, all delays help Trump.
> 
> Conviction with a possible probation sentence coming will not much hurt his political future.

You’re not wrong, but I’m thinking he’s still going to be tied up in court instead of going rallies. He’s also going to be spending money, which is in short supply, on his defense. So, yeah, it probably helps him overall but I’m not sure if it will make a big difference to his changes of being elected.

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**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/995 "2024-03-14T21:38:05Z")

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> [@PhillyGuy](#):
>
> all delays help Trump.

I’m not so sure.

So say this case is delayed to the summer. That’s when the conventions are held (the GOP’s is scheduled from July 15-18). I would think that’s the _worst_ possible time to remind people that, when he was last president, donald was writing checks in the Oval Office to finish paying the hush money needed to silence the porn star (all with falsified records).

Sure, his sycophants won’t care, and the convention speeches will all act like it doesn’t exist, but that’s got to be bad for messaging.

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**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/996 "2024-03-14T22:22:57Z")

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> [@Odesio](#):
>
> You’re not wrong, but I’m thinking he’s still going to be tied up in court instead of going rallies.

He has a jet. He can do court during the day and rallies at night. It’s not like he’s spends a lot of time on the west coast and he doesn’t sleep much anyway. This might be bad for his health (that would be a shame) but he certainly can do it. And it gives him even more to bitch about, which he thrives on.

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**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/997 "2024-03-14T22:28:49Z")

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> [@Moriarty](#):
>
> I’m not so sure.

Neither am I.

There used to be a pro-convention bounce where the nominee rose in the poll due to all the positive messaging Americans had just received. [But as can be seen here, those bounces have mostly disappeared](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-documents-archive-guidebook/party-platforms-and-nominating-conventions/the). Last cycle, Trump had a one point bounce, and Biden, zero. Maybe a delay will lose Trump that one point. Or maybe it was a polling error.

American courts are made for plea bargaining, not speedy trials. I wonder how many additional continuances are likely.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/998 "2024-03-14T22:36:09Z")

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> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Oh, look, another Garland Delay:

This article is from last week, and concerns a federal trial, but:

[Merrick Garland isn’t to blame for delays](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/merrick-garland-isnt-blame-delays-trumps-election-interference-case-rcna141213)

When a serious well-reviewed door-stopped Merrick Garland biography comes out, decades from now, it probably will document in great detail how all these delays were part of a legal system Garland could not much change.

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**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/999 "2024-03-15T04:37:15Z")

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At some point these trials will all get moving (save maybe Cannon’s down in Florida), and there’s every chance it will be right before or even during the election season. And some crybaby toddler will throw a hissy fit tantrum about election interference because the trials are interfering with his campaigning. At that point I dearly hope that more than one judge looks him dead in the eye and reminds him that it would have all been over months ago but for his constant stalling tactics, so he needs to sit down and shut up and let the grown ups talk.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/manhattan-prosecutors-file-criminal-charges-for-trump-re-stormy-daniels-case-ongoing-discussion-here-guilty-on-all-34-counts-may-30-2024/980953/1000 "2024-03-15T22:07:54Z")

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[Judge Delays Trump’s Manhattan Trial Until at Least Mid-April](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/nyregion/trump-bragg-trial-date-delay.html)

> [@](#):
>
> The delay — lasting 30 days from the judge’s Friday decision — stems from the recent disclosure of more than 100,000 pages of records that may have some bearing on the case. . . .
> 
> Mr. Trump, who recently clinched the Republican presidential nomination for the third time, was initially set to go on trial on March 25. Now, the judge in the case, Juan M. Merchan, will hold a hearing that day to determine whether the trial should be delayed further — and if so, for how long. . . .
> 
> “There are significant questions of fact which this Court must resolve,” the judge wrote.
> 
> He also ordered both sides to produce a “detailed timeline of the events” leading up to the recent disclosure of the records.

From [the Washington Post article](https://wapo.st/48TOv3z):

> [@](#):
>
> Also Friday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he would soon receive about 15,000 new pages of documents from the U.S. attorney’s office — Bragg’s federal counterparts — on top of the 100,000 pages he got earlier.

Did the judge know about the additional 15,000 pages before saying 30 days? And when is the “soon receive” date?

Either way, no new trial date was set, so 30 days is far from firm. I now know to expect more delays and continuances.

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