Juan Merchan's moment of infamy

When FDR spoke of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, he spoke of a "date that will live in infamy." If a guilty verdict is reached in NY v. Trump, aka the Trump Hush Money Case, a new 'date that will live in infamy' will have been created.

To be certain, a guilty verdict in the Trump Hush Money Trial won't be as catastrophic as the bombing of Pearl Harbor in terms of physical destruction. Still, it will be catastrophic in different catastrophic way. It will highlight as fact that corrupt men will have used the criminal justice system to take out their political opponent.

The Silver Lining?

The Silver lining to that dark cloud is that Joe Biden, Alvin Bragg, Mike Colangelo and Juan Merchan will have failed to defeat Donald Trump. Principled men like Jonathan Turley, Andy McCarthy and Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz will have gotten the victory from the appellate court from jurists that shouldn't have been impaneled.

Jonathan Turley has written another well-written article that will stand the test of time. Make sure you read the entire article. This is what he wrote that's worth highlighting:

Originally, Bragg referenced four possible crimes, though he is now claiming three: a tax violation or either a state or federal campaign financing violation. The last crime is particularly controversial because Bragg has no authority to enforce federal law and the Justice Department declined any criminal charge. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) did not even find grounds for a civil fine.

Judge Merchan has ruled that the jury does not have to agree on what that crime is. The jury could split into three groups of four on which of the three crimes were being concealed and Merchan will still treat it as a unanimous verdict. The jury has been given little substantive information on these crimes, and Merchan has denied a legal expert who could have shown that there was no federal election violation.

What's frightening is that the fact that no crime was committed is of little consequence to Biden, Bragg, Colangelo and Merchan. In this interview, Professor Turley said that the trial "is collapsing under its own weight":

That's indisputably true. Who's heard of a jury settling on 3 different crimes as being worthy of a unanimous verdict from the judge? That's totally silly. Next, Judge Merchan ruled that Bradley Smith, the former chair of the FEC, couldn't testify for the defense. What better witness to testify as to federal election law?

This case has more holes than Swiss cheese. First, this shouldn't have resulted in an indictment. Next, Judge Merchan should've ruled that the case was dismissed because the prosecution didn't prove the elements of the crime. Finally, this 'case' was nothing more than a hodge-podge of legal theories that don't connect with each other. Throw in some jurisdictional issues and a pair of civil rights violations and you've got a trial that should live in infamy for all the wrong reasons.