Julian Epstein, the former top Democratic adviser on the House Judiciary Committee, defended President-elect Donald Trump on Fox Business on Friday, saying Trump’s case was a “gross abuse” of justice.
Monaka exterior Epstein told “Evening Edit” that the case was not handled correctly. He said he believed the incident would never have happened if the defendant had been anyone other than Trump. The former attorney said he regrets what he called procedural and ethical errors that harmed the prosecution.
“This is essentially a gross abuse of the justice system. Today’s unconditional release is the judicial equivalent of saying ‘never mind.’ They made this country endure this situation for two years, all in vain. Because no American in the history of this country has ever been prosecuted under this fact pattern, and viewers don’t need to know anything else,” Epstein told host Elizabeth McDonald. “If Donald Trump’s name had been anything other than Trump, he would never have been indicted. Judges were conflicted. Prosecutors were stumped.”
Epstein said he was not given clear notice of the actual charges.
“It would be overturned on at least three different grounds. There was no notice whatsoever as to what the actual charges would be. The jury could choose from a menu of possible crimes. has no unanimity requirement and this The reason this was such a serious abuse is because, as far as federal campaign finance offenses are concerned, there is nothing in federal campaign finance law that makes hush money a reportable crime. Mr. Bragg claimed,” Mr. Epstein said.
“You have a former chairman who the judge did not let testify. This means that for an FEC chairman who has said hush money is not reportable expenditure, that kind of thing is not reportable expenditure. , it was very clear.”
The former lawyer criticized Democrats for not speaking out against what he called the politicization of the justice system under the Biden administration.
“The fact that more Democrats like me aren’t calling this out just proves how politicized the justice system has become during the Biden administration,” Epstein said.
Epstein then spoke about how the Republican Party would respond. (Related: Former Justice Department official explains how Marchan may manipulate the timing of President Trump’s trial for political gain)
“The Trump Justice Department can walk in all day long and find Democrats’ minor infractions and prosecute them criminally based on the same spurious theories. And now the Democrats, who have piously preached about protecting democracy, are now trying to get rid of the judicial system. We have to look to the Republican Party to break the cycle of politicization, but the Republicans will have the right to say, “You did it,” in a kind of retaliation. We’re going to do it, and now we’re going to do it to you,” Epstein said.
Judge Juan Marchan sentenced Trump to unconditional release, avoiding fines, jail time, and probation for the felon he was formally convicted of. Marchan said during the hearing that the “unusual” legal protections afforded to the US president warranted a lighter sentence, implying that Trump would not have received the sentence if he had not been re-elected. .
In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of 34 felonies for falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 non-disclosure agreement with former porn actress Stormy Daniels. Daniels said she and Trump had an affair in 2006. The judge ruled that an unconditional discharge would not “infringe” on the executive branch and would respect the jury’s decision.
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