I USUALLY avoid MSM news like the plague, but was driving listening to Classic FM the other day when one of their bulletins came on. Listening to it made me realise just how badly the British public are being misinformed about Donald Trump’s so-called hush money trial.
Let’s backtrack.
Ask yourself, what crime is it that Trump is being accused of committing?
Paying hush money? No, this is not a crime. Indeed Non Disclosure Agreements, NDAs, are actually legally binding agreements, and are not illegal in any way.
Keeping the payments secret? No, that is the whole purpose of an NDA.
Recording the payments in his company’s accounts as ‘legal expenses’? No, even if they were wrongly classified (which they weren’t), such a bookkeeping error in the US would be only a misdemeanour, not a felony, for which the Statute of Limitations expired years ago.
Not declaring it as a campaign expense during the 2016 election? No, that would be a federal offence, which a New York court would have no jurisdiction over.
So just what is the crime? Curiously, the prosecution have not even announced what it is that they are trying Trump for! This would appear to be unheard of in any court of law, either here or in the US.
Legal experts in the US are all over this case, pointing out these discrepancies and criticising the prosecution. Yet here in the UK I have not come across any of this. Instead the media pretends it is all a serious legal case and that Trump is obviously guilty, and then proceeds to salivate over the latest (irrelevant) tittle-tattle emanating from Stormy Daniels or Michael Cohen.
