The “Other Crime(s)” Remain A Mystery

A few people reached out to me to ask whether I could explain what the other crimes were, the crimes that would transform Trump’s misdemeanor falsification of business records to reflect payoffs to two women and a doorman as legal expenses into the 34 counts of the Class E non-violent felony of falsifying of business records in the first degree.

In addition to the indictment, District Attorney Alvin Bragg separately filed what he captioned “statement of facts,” which isn’t actually a thing although it told the prosecution’s story behind the indictment. Whether this will bind the prosecution later remains to be seen, but for now it’s the best there is.

But what is missing in both documents is the other crime.

Each count recites the statutory language, as counts usually do, including this:

…with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof…

There are a number of possibilities as to the “other crimes,” which may be the same for all counts or may be different, since there’s no clue what they actually are. It could be federal campaign finance law violations, notwithstanding any of a host of novel issues arising if that’s the case, or it could be state election law issues. It could be state tax evasion, as the “legal fees” which concealed the payoffs were likely deducted from income taxes as business expenses when they weren’t. But was that his intent in concealing the nature of the payoffs?

And would Michael Cohen be a viable witness to prove any intent issue given his credibility challenges?

For all the hoopla, which wasn’t all that hoop or la despite the efforts of so many to jazz this up to excite us about the “first time in history a former president has been indicted,” the very serious arguments about how this is a very serious indictment are, on the one hand, unavailing, and on the other hand, might at worst result in Trump getting a sentence of probation as a first time non-violent offender. Of all the many things Trump has done throughout the course of his career and his presidency, will sentencing him to probation warm your cockles?

As my old buddy, Mark Draughn, the Windypundit, wrote the other day, there is a reason nothing about this indictment feels as significant as it should.

Then I came across a random tweet from a total stranger that managed to put it all in perspective:

The weirdest part about Trump being indicted for fraud, is that he was once President.
Tgage @tgagemurphy — 4:40 PM · Mar 31, 2023

Once you see it, it seems so obvious.

There is nobody who has ever done business with Trump who is surprised that he engaged in fraud, as well as a laundry list of other unsavory and/or criminal activities. This isn’t offered as evidence of criminal conduct as much as evidence that nobody who knew ever thought Trump was a paragon of virtue, but  guy whose normal world involved skirting the law and screwing people over for a buck. The thing wasn’t that anyone would be surprise that Trump committed  a crime, but that anybody would consider it a big deal but for the fact that this guy was, of all crazy things, president.

We’re still a ways off from the defense motions to “inspect and dismiss” as it’s called in New York, and until the question of what the “other crimes” may be is answered, and answered in a fashion that will hold the prosecution to their claim so they can’t wiggle out later, there really isn’t much more to say about this indictment.

A former president has been indicted. There you go.