Well, it finally happened. Democrats have managed to score a conviction against their arch nemesis, former President Donald Trump.
Trump was charged with falsifying business records regarding payments made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to supposedly pay off adult film actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he allegedly had a sexual encounter.
The trial was fraught with politics, which makes sense given the fact that the entire prosecution is intended to influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election.
After six weeks of trial in Manhattan, the jury has returned its verdict against former President Donald Trump for falsifying business records regarding payments made to reimburse Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, for money Cohen paid to Stormy Daniels in October 2016 in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement. Following roughly 11 hours of deliberation (and after initially signaling they were going home for the day on Thursday), the jury of seven men and five women found the former president guilty on all 34 charges.
Of course, as RedState’s Susie Moore pointed out, this does not necessarily mean Trump will face jail time. Moreover, the inevitable appeal will likely stretch out the process until after the election.
Now that the verdict is in, Trump’s legal team will likely move to set aside the verdict and then appeal the verdict, assuming that motion is not granted. There appear to be ample grounds on which to base an appeal, though there is no guarantee that the appellate courts in New York will reverse the verdict and order a new trial. It’s possible, though — see, e.g., Breaking: Harvey Weinstein 2020 Rape Conviction Overturned by NY Appeals Court. Bear in mind that the appellate process can be quite lengthy (note that Weinstein’s verdict was overturned over four years after his conviction), so will by no means be resolved prior to the election in November.
As I said in the headline, this might get ugly.
It was clear from the beginning that this whole case was a ploy intended to target a political opponent. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s decision to go forward with these charges had nothing to do with a pursuit of justice, but an effort to affect the upcoming election. After all, President Joe Biden is going to need all the help he can get, right?
The fact that federal authorities and Bragg’s predecessor declined to pursue this case further highlights the true reason why they decided to push the issue. Moreover, the legal wrangling involved in upgrading Trump’s supposed offense from a misdemeanor to a felony is all anyone needs to see that this isn’t on the up and up.
RELATED: Now We Know Why They Wanted to Keep the Trump Indictment Sealed
Democrats might live to regret this particular legal gambit. Trump and Biden have been polling at a statistical dead heat even with all the indictments and media meddling. This conviction could very well push Trump ahead of the current occupant of the White House. This is especially true if the other pending cases produce similar results. Even just a few responses on social media show that people know the prosecution is a pile of bovine excrement.
While this fiasco is certainly going to redound negatively on the Democrats, what about American society?
America is already quite divided. Politics has become a top priority for many who might not have paid as much attention previously. The past decade has seen this fissure grow even wider. This has already inflamed passions about Trump and will probably lead to more polarization over the coming months.
I do not expect much in the way of violence – at least not yet. It would likely take imprisonment to spur folks toward more extreme measures. However, there are still several other indictments out there that could result in his incarceration, as unlikely as it seems.
If Trump wins in November, an outcome that has become more likely because of these legal stunts Democrats are pulling, then it could lower tensions – at least on the right. However, if he loses after a campaign season full of political prosecutions, it will serve to exacerbate attitudes on both sides.
Moreover, trust in our governmental institutions will plummet even further, which could be an issue since this trust is already at all time lows. Hopefully, this will not devolve into violence. But the eventuality of a more divided populace is unavoidable at this point. If we thought America was divided before, we haven’t seen anything yet.