How about we go with a classical music catalog style:
Trump Sonata for Falsifying Business Records - T7
The civil trial could be:
Trump Symphony for Falsifying Business Records - T1
the judge is allowing for blanche to be in trump’s pre sentencing interview. the interview will be through computer not in person.
Thank you Rocking_Chair for our update here! I wonder if Trump will be able to hold himself back at all to fish for a lighter punishment yet doubt it so highly
Does Trump have to take a drug test? If yes, I guess he could go to Quest or something similar.
Would that be typical for a non-drug related felon?
I’m sure Blanche will try to keep Trump from saying more than yes, no, and I’m very sorry, but how much interference does the probation officer have to tolerate?
IANAL, but wouldn’t illegal drug use violate any probation? And they would have to drug test him to know.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump abuses something like Adderall but has a prescription for it–maybe from Dr. Ronny Jackson. It would be interesting if Trump fails a test for something he’s not legally using.
Presumably but if drugs have nothing to do with the case would they usually test for them? And if they did it wouldn’t happen until he’s actually sentenced. He has an interview with a probation officer (I think) as that is the official whose job it is to produce the sentencing report, he’s not on probation until the judge sentences him to probation.
Presumably turning up the the interview high as a kite would be prejudicial but AFAIK they aren’t going to drug test unless being sober was relevant to his guilt and remorse (e.g. a DUI case). But again IANAL
I don’t have the cite handy but I read a page about pre-sentencing interviews that suggested this information was entirely voluntary and a person could lie about it if they wished but only to their own peril. The example was someone who didn’t want to say he had smoked marijuana in the past because he thought it would make him look bad. But by leaving this out, he was not eligible for a program that would have knocked a year off his sentence.
I’m basing this off the jury instructions. Is this a fair basic summary of the charges:
Falsified Business Records - Trump, through a conspiracy with Cohen and Weisselberg, caused the Trump Org business records to be false. What should have been a reimbursement for Cohen’s payment of an NDA agreement, was instead fraudulently marked as a legal expense (and the invoice from Cohen and Trump check to pay it). Trump did this to defraud NY of legit business practices. This is a misdemeanor crime.
Felony - the reason Trump caused the above business record to be false, and what bumps this up to a felony, was because Trump wanted to conceal another crime:
Other Crime/Predicate: The other crime was a violation of a New York election law (Sec 17-152) that makes it illegal for “any two or more persons” to “conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means”.
Unlawful Means - Jury did not need to agree on any specific one, but generally they were provided evidence of:
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Federal Campaign Finance - The 130k to Stormy (via Cohen) was a campaign contribution, and it was over the $2,700 limit.
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Tax Fraud - Illegal to submit false materials regarding your taxes. Trump fraudulently reported false tax information. However, this led to an increased tax payment (he did not evade or underpay anything). Taxes should have been paid on $130k, but instead they fraudulently bumped it up and paid on much more than that - $420k. Fraud is fraud I guess.
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Falsifying other business records. Trump caused other business records to be false. Less clear to me, but it would have been Cohen’s LLC bank records, the wire of the NDA payment, etc. Things like that.
Here’s a NYT link to the jury instructions. I’m summarizing about a dozen pages of instructions (pgs 25-34).
Is this basically correct?
What is the purpose of this probation interview?
I assume that, for regular criminals, the probation officer is supposed to speak with the individual and identify potential issues that would help the judge decide on severity or leniency of the sentence. Maybe things like, I dunno, “this guy has gang tattoos that you didn’t see in the courtroom, and may be dangerous”, or “this guy broke down in tears and is genuinely worried that he’s ruined his family’s life”.
But in this case, everything about Trump is already known. The probation officer won’t add anything new. Even worse, he might lie.
The probation officer could (and should) be afraid that if he says anything bad about Trump, he will ruin his own life. If Trump wins the election, he will take revenge and arrest the probation officer and every other person involved in the case.
So this probation interview is just a formality , which I assume must be done for Trump, just like any other citizen. But in reality, I don’t think we should expect the interview to affect Judge Manchin’s verdict
This is confusing. So, Trump (or any other convicted felon) could lie by saying “I used marijuana” and then be eligible for reduced time when they easily pass a drug-abuse program? (Easy to pass because they aren’t actually drug users.)
I hope this forms some of the questioning… The probation officer should ask Trump about his revenge plans. Get them down in some detail. The judge may be interested to know who Trump is threatening when conditions of release/probation are put forth.
My assumption is that the person who conducts this interview is the last person on earth you’d want to try this with. I would not count on their bullshit detector being anything less than finely calibrated, especially when it comes to people trying to manipulate them. But if Trump wishes to try to lie tactically for the hopes of a better sentence that is his choice.
I’d also assume that eligibility for prison programs can be assessed on an ongoing basis. So if Trump lies his way into the program he would be kicked out in short order and that would make things worse for him. I don’t think any such programs are necessarily easy to pass, especially for someone with Trump’s massive ego. He wouldn’t make it past step 1 (admit powerlessness) of a 12 step program. And then you’ve got step 7 which is “ask God*”. Why would Trump ask God when Trump could just ask Trump?
- or higher power of your choice but the assumption here is that Trump is nominally Christian (for a particularly flexible definition of such)
From my point of view, the simple act of making a narcissistic asshole like Trump have to answer questions, some of them very personal, from some no-name probation officer is worth the price of admission. And, if the probation officer is good at their job, they could recommend a thorough mental health evaluation or highlight the constant delusional lying Trump engages in, and really give us something fun to watch.
nevermind
It could be interesting if Trump gets a psychologist for the interview.
"In medical terms, the subject shows signs of dementia with delusions of grandeur, has a persecution complex, and has visual and auditory hallucinations of big, strong men saying “Sir, you’re the [insert superlative adjective here].”
Pre-Sentence Report (nycourts.gov):
A probation officer (or a social worker or psychologist working for the probation department) interviews the defendant…
[my bold]
But it’s not uncommon for crimes / cases to be named after a single element of the case - whether it be the killer, the underlying crime, or the victim involved. My version included the motive “election fraud” which is part of the underlying crime, even if that’s not what the conviction is about.
Of course, this is just going in circles, there’s not a short way (see the title of the thread!) to fully detail the circumstances of the crime and it’s underlying elements. Which is why short hand “hush money” or “stormy daniels” gets used because most people want the soundbites, not the actual details.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. We’re largely a Xitter-length society now, and (IMHO) haven’t cared for details as much since around the time of the 24 hour a day news cycle.
So when is this interview actually happening. All I see are stores that talk about it happening today, but nothing specific.
You’ll probably never get anything specific because this is confidential, and I think only the judge and the defense/prosecutors will get the info so they can prepare for sentencing.