Experts Say Manhattan DA’s Trump Case Rests on Shaky Legal and Ethical Ground

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday shocked the world with an announcement that he expects to be arrested Tuesday in connection with an ongoing investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a case legal scholars have suggested has a questionable legal basis.The investigation involves Trump’s 2016 alleged payment of $130,000 in hush money to Stormy Daniels via his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, whom he later reimbursed.
While Bragg has not announced specific charges, legal scholars such as George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley are predicting an indictment for falsifying business records under New York Section 175. Such a charge would likely be based on Trump’s labeling his reimbursement of Cohen as a legal expense.
Trump’s attorney, Joe Tacopina has argued that Trump’s payment to Cohen was in fact a legitimate legal fee. Trump, he noted, never directly paid Daniels any money. Rather, he only paid his own lawyer for services rendered, i.e. legal fees.
“The payments were made t …