What can I say about the NY show trial that is out to get Trump? Maybe this. I have some experience with lawyers.
As I understand it, the case is one of accusing Trump of mislabeling a billing from his lawyer (who has now turned against him) as legal fees, when the prosecutor says they should have been listed as a political donation. That I don’t understand.
But in any case, my experience has been that law firms bill clients very generically. Sometimes it’s just the total dollars due, with no other information. Sometimes there is a little more information, like total hours and the subject matter. Most of the time we have to call and insist that the law firm provide the backup data like the hours incurred, what specific work the lawyer did
during those hours, which lawyer, etc. That level of detail is never provided unless we call and ask for it.
I am very certain that Trump’s lawyer billed him per their typical billing procedure, which would be a generic invoice with little to no detail.
Second, the bill would have been sent to Trump’s accounting department to be processed. While we aren’t all privy to what is going on in that courtroom, it is unlikely that Trump would have even seen the invoice; he may have signed off on a long list of bills that had to be paid on a billing summary or he may have just signed the check without so much as looking at it. I would be surprised if the Trump Organization signs checks personally as many companies have their checks printed and signed by a computer. So long as the invoices are authorized.
Plus, that bill would have been one of dozens or hundreds that may have been reviewed, without too much attention provided – because it was a legal bill by a regular law firm that they use.
In addition, law firms make it a regular practice to hire experts and third-party consultants to assist them, and those costs or fees are put onto the invoice. I could easily see a settlement payment made by the law firm also being put on the legal bill without any detail provided.
And of course, every business owner and every American knows that sometimes settlements are paid in situations where the cost of fighting the case for years through the courts would cost more. Whether or not Trump and Stormy Daniels (is that really her legal name?) were involved, a settlement was apparently paid, through the law firm by the lawyer, and then apparently billed
to his client, Trump. Nothing unusual or illegal about that. I just don’t understand where any law was broken.
And how the prosecutor can claim that Trump committed a criminal offense in a question about an accounting entry is beyond me. Of course, any claim of wrongdoing would require a victim and harm, and I don’t see how either occurred. In fact, it’s just wrong – for the prosecutor is now teaching American businesses to lie about billings.
This whole thing is just insane, and yes, it’s election interference.
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