Categories
Crime Donald Trump Melania Trump

Trump Is Facing A Legal Dilemma That Could Wind Up Ripping His Family Apart

Disgraced and failed one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump is about to be forced to choose between two equally terrible outcomes.

If the disgraced ex-president refuses to follow the advice of his attorneys, he’s facing criminal charges from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

But if Donald chooses to listen to his lawyers, it’s very likely that it will destroy what remains of his marriage to Melania, cause a fracture in his relationship with his youngest son, Barron, and rip apart his family at the very seams.

According to Rolling Stone, the hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels are at the center of the decision Trump will soon have to make.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office right now is laying out its case against Trump, arguing that the $130,000 paid to Daniels, an adult-film actress, in 2016 constituted violations of election and business-records laws. But according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, multiple Trump advisers — including at least one of his lawyers — have told him in recent months that he has a stronger case if he argues the payments had nothing to do with the election. Instead, these advisers would have Trump argue that the payments were entirely about preventing conflict with his wife, Melania.

In order to bring felony charges, New York law requires that prosecutors prove defendants falsified records in order to cover up a separate crime. In Trump’s case, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is reportedly attempting to prove that the paperwork detailing Trump’s reimbursement of former fixer Michael Cohen amounted to an effort to cover up an illegal campaign contribution. Trump’s advisers hope that by casting the payments as marriage-related, they could remove any basis for the felony charge Bragg reportedly has in mind. 

Donald told Melania he never had an affair with Daniels, and if it’s proven he did, it could not only end the marriage but void whatever prenuptial agreement he had her sign before they married.

But the argument would leave Trump facing some tough questions. Because if the payments to Daniels had nothing to do with the election, then Trump would have to explain why he was willing to spend six figures to prevent his wife from hearing about an alleged sexual encounter with a porn star — a tryst that he for years has claimed never happened.

Trump knows that he’s facing having to shell out a cool fortune it it’s proven that he cheated on his wife, according to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who made the hush money payment to Daniels and reports that his former boss once said the $130,00 he paid to keep Daniels quiet was “a lot less than I would have to pay Melania.”

So which will Donald choose? Either way, he appears to be screwed.

By Andrew Bradford

Proud progressive journalist and political adviser living behind enemy lines in Red America.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *