Judge Merchan has restricted my testimony so much that the defense has decided not to call me. Now, it's elementary for the judge to instruct the jury on the law, so I understand your reluctance. /1
But the Federal Election Campaign Act is very complex. Even Antonin Scalia, a very smart guy, even you hate him, once said “this [campaign finance] The law is so complex that I cannot understand it. /2
Imagine a jury in a product liability case trying to figure out whether a complex machine was negligently designed, based only on a general recitation of the general definition of “negligence.” They would be lost without knowing the technological and industry norms. /3
/4 Someone has to bring this knowledge to the jury. This, not the law, was my intended witness. For example, part of the state's case is that they misreported what they knew was a campaign expense to hide the payment until after the election.
/5 Cohen even stated that they just wanted the election to happen.
/6, so we were going to go through the reporting schedules, showing that even if they thought it was a reportable campaign expense, an expense made on October 27 (when $$ were sent to Daniels' attorney) would not, by law, be reported until December 8th, a full 30 days after the election
/7 but, while the judge did not let me testify about the meaning of the law, he did allow Michael Cohen to explain at length whether his activity violated FECA and how. So effectively, the jury got their instructions on FECA from Michael Cohen!
/8 Judge Merchand has asked the parties to submit new proposed instructions on FECA, and then I assume they will argue it. I'm not optimistic.
/9 So you have a judge who helped Trump's opponent preside over a trial of a prosecutor who was elected on a promise to get Trump, for something the DOJ and FEC decided not to prosecute , according to a far-fetched legal theory that I prosecution allowed…
/10… To repeatedly get the law wrong or get incorrect statements of the law from witnesses (and unlike Cohen's, my testimony would not have gone to the ultimate legal issue). The bias of the judge is very obvious.
/11 Why do pluralities of Americans see Biden as a greater threat to democracy than Trump? Partly it's because of shenanigans like this trial.
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