A Baltimore attorney weighs in on what the indictment means for Donald Trump

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BALTIMORE – A Baltimore attorney is weighing the indictment of former President Donald Trump, who is expected to surrender to authorities in New York on Tuesday.

A New York grand jury investigating the circumstances surrounding the payment of “hush money” to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 has voted to indict Trump, making him the first former president in US history. to face criminal charges. The charge or charges have not yet been opened.

That payment was supposed to keep him quiet about their alleged affair. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump is “disturbed” and “angry” by the news of his indictment, but “not worried at all,” his lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told “CBS Mornings” on Friday.

Adam Ruther, a Baltimore attorney with Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP, told WJZ on Friday that there are more questions than answers about Trump’s future.

“Obviously, the indictment at the moment is sealed, and that’s normal, until the arraignment,” Ruther said. “But what we’re hearing based on the information that’s kind of leaked out is, apparently, to surround the idea that Michael Cohen had the nondisclosure agreement to prevent him from going public with the fact that he and Donald Trump had a relationship. .”

That, in itself, is probably not illegal, Ruther said. It was the timing of that payment, made before the 2016 election that drew attention.

“That in itself is probably not illegal,” Ruther said. “But he paid that money before the 2016 election, there was an argument that it was a campaign contribution, and to avoid that, the allegations seem to be that Donald Trump paid it to Michael Cohen and paid him, and through by doing so, he made a false business record.”

Ruther said if that crime would have been considered a felony if he did it for the purpose of trying to avoid a campaign contribution problem, then he did it for the purpose of furthering or perpetuating another crime.

“The other charges, we’re not sure about,” Ruther said. “We’ll find out on Tuesday, but that seems to be the heart of the case.”

The prosecutor in the past decided not to proceed with this case, but the current prosecutor will.

Ruther said the prosecution will have obstacles to win the case.

“So eventually they have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury,” Ruther said. “In the first issue is the political implications. There will be an allegation made that this is a political hit, essentially, and there is nothing really to the criminal charges. But even aside from that, they have to prove the intent to defraud. So in other words, they have to prove that it was done specifically for the purposes of covering up the campaign contribution problem and not just because Donald Trump didn’t want it to come out for personal reasons.”

“And then the third problem they will face is that their star witness is Michael Cohen who pleaded guilty to lying to Congress. So, that’s going to be an interesting cross-examination if this ends up seeing the inside of a courtroom. rumor has it there are two dozen charges within this indictment.”

Staff of CBS Baltimore

The CBS Baltimore Staff is a group of experienced journalists who bring you content on CBSBaltimore.com.

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