I can certainly see the defense lawyers arguing that using a federal crime to boost a New York misdemeanor to felony isn’t kosher.
From the “indicted” thread:
I couldn’t possibly watch this out of concern for my health, but I did catch some of CNN’s fact-checking. The essence of it was that the whole thing was a complete pack of lies. Conventional liars might exaggerate, or distort, or interpret things their own way. Not Trump. He just flat-out lies, and his acolytes somehow just eat it up, as if they existed in a totally alternate reality. It’s just amazing.
As for Malignia, except for being a shameless golddigger, she seems to hate Trump about as much as the rest of us. The FBI raid revealed the fact that she has her own bedroom, and I’d guess probably spends most of her time in her own quarters. Does anyone remember the incident where they were walking and he tried to take her hand, and she slapped it away? She not only failed to accompany the Orange Criminal to his arraignment, she probably fervently wished that he would never come back. No surprise that she wasn’t there to support him in his Big Grievance Speech, aka “Pack of Lies”. Trump’s marriage to his trophy wife is about as genuine as everything else about him.
They may well try, but escalating the seriousness of an offense committed in the course of another crime, or to cover up another crime, is pretty common in criminal law.
Given the rather bizarre straining at gnats Trump’s lawyers have done up to now, I would still see it as the DA not handing them another arrow for their quiver.
Isn’t one of the exceptions to a statute of limitations, when the crime wasn’t prosecuted earlier because the defendant successfully hid evidence of it?
I couldn’t find a provision for that. However,
CPL Section 30.10(4) provides that when calculating the time limitation applicable to commencement of a criminal action, the following periods shall not be included:
(a) Any period following the commission of the offense during which (i) the defendant was continuously outside this state or (ii) the whereabouts of the defendant were continuously unknown and continuously unascertainable by the exercise of reasonable diligence. However, in no event shall the period of limitation be extended by more than five years beyond the period otherwise applicable under subdivision two.
(b) When a prosecution for an offense is lawfully commenced within the prescribed period of limitation therefor, and when an accusatory instrument upon which such prosecution is based is subsequently dismissed by an authorized court under directions or circumstances permitting the lodging of another charge for the same offense or an offense based on the same conduct, the period extending from the commencement of the thus defeated prosecution to the dismissal of the accusatory instrument does not constitute a part of the period of limitation applicable to commencement of prosecution by a new charge.
I’ve read that five times and can’t parse it.
The second section has no relevance to Trump. The part about being away from NY could come into play. In addition, I think the NY governor extended all statute of limitations due to COVID.
The second part is what I can’t parse. What the hell does that mean? That’s why there are “Bus full of lawyers drive over cliff” jokes.
IANAL, but I think it’s describing a situation where charges are brought with in the time period described by the statute of limitations, but the case is dismissed for reasons that allow the charges to be brought again in the future (such as a mistrial, as opposed to an acquittal), then the time the initial trial took doesn’t count against the SoL clock.
Yes. You get your bar card for that one.
Don Jr is going around saying he signed on of the checks so, obviously, NOTHING TO SEE HERE!
Of course he’s throwing his own children under the bus. Who could possibly have seen that coming?
My wife just saw a comment on Facebook to the effect that it’s ironic that after stiffing people for decades, he’s finally being prosecuted for actually paying someone!
OK, what crime(s) would THAT be, then?
Conspiracy? Co-defendant? RICO charges?
What is it with these people bragging about their criminal acts?
So that’s why he went with “Donald Trump Jr.”
Maybe a good organ donor repository too. Well, maybe not the liver.
Trump Jr. signing the check is not a bombshell and is not some new crime. He was running the trust at the time, so it is appropriate that he would sign a check from the Trust.
The problem is that the Trust was making the payment in the first place, which is what the original charges are about.
One trope that can be put to rest is that trump only hires female attorneys based on their attractiveness 
Moderating:
Let’s not make comments about the relative attractiveness of Trump’s attorneys. We’re moving away from this kind of slur in the forum.
Someone over at TalkingPointsMemo.com was certainly leaning into the double entendre headlines yesterday:
