Legal AF by MeidasTouch - FELON Trump has MAJOR MEETING before SENTENCING…

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

Trump’s interview with the NY probation department to allow them to prepare a presentencing recommendation to the trial judge before he sentences him on 7/11, has the real possibility of quickly jumping the track, as Trump and his lawyers try to use the interview to argue that Trump’s criminal trial was a “witch hunt”, and “lawless” and will be “reversed” and he should get no punishment. Michael Popok explains what will likely occur during the interview and how that will shape the outcome of the report. Head to https://Rhone.com/LEGALAF and use code LEGALAF to save 20% off your entire order! Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Join us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/legalaf Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at TNVacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect. This is Michael Popak, Legal AF. Time to take the next step in the Donald Trump criminal conviction. It's time to talk about sentencing and the process because there's going to be an interview with Donald Trump, his lawyer, by video conference with the probation department in New York as they prepare their pre-sentencing report, which is an independent report that goes to the

judge, Judge Mershon, who needs to determine the punishment that will fit this particular crime. 34 counts felony, Class E, for a first-time offender like Donald Trump. Now, I may tell you what usually happens, and let me tell you what the judge is going to allow to happen here. What usually happens is you what the judge is going to allow to happen here. What usually happens is the convicted defendant will meet in person, sometimes a video conference post-COVID, will meet in person or by video conference with the probation department. It could be a social worker, could be a probation officer, parole officer, could be a psychologist to come up with all of the information that is needed. There's a questionnaire that's filled out and of the information that is needed.

There's a questionnaire that's filled out and there's information that is obtained in that interview about the person's work history, criminal history, lawsuit history, you see where this is going. Places where they've been a judge to have committed crimes or have lied under oath, you know, things like that. This is also an opportunity for the defendant, or in this case, Todd Blanche's lawyer, who will also be allowed to participate in this sentencing,

pre-sentencing interview, to advocate for a particular sentence or a lower sentence. Now we already know that it's likely, I mean, I suspect that it's likely, that the prosecutors, Alvin Bragg and the Manhattan DA, are gonna ask for some version of jail time, incarceration, community service, home detention, fines, you know, they're gonna put together a proposal. And we know, we can expect that Donald Trump's lawyers are gonna pitch for zero, probation, maybe community service,

but really nothing else. And so this is the opportunity for the advocates for the defendant to try to influence, if you will, the outcome of the pre-sentencing report by making their pitch. In fact, I found it interesting that in the FAQ, like the frequently asked questions for the New York court system,

here's how they describe the pre-sentence report. And think about how this is gonna apply and map onto Donald Trump. A judge uses a pre-sentence report to help decide the defendant's punishment for the crime. The pre-sentence report is made by probation officers. The report is made after the conviction and before the date of sentencing, here July 11th, in felony and serious misdemeanor

cases. A probation officer or social worker or psychologist working for the probation department interviews the defendant and checks the defendant's criminal record. It's hard to believe Donald Trump has no prior criminal record. We'll leave that for a moment. The probation officer may talk to the crime victim. We'll talk about crime victim here in a minute. It's really the American people and the electorate who had almost had the election stolen from them or had the election stolen from them because people voted for Donald Trump instead of Hillary Clinton because of the election interference that's at the base of the crime. The pre-sentence report includes a statement about what happened, the defendant's personal because of the election interference that's at the base of the crime. The pre-sentence report includes a statement about what happened, the defendant's personal history,

and criminal record and a victim impact statement. The report makes recommendations for sentencing. Here's the last paragraph that I like. The pre-sentence report is a chance for the defendant's lawyer to say good things about the defendant, like that defendant is in a counseling program or that he has a steady job and takes care of an ailing family member. The pre-sentence

interview is a chance for the defendant to try to make a good impression and explain why he or or she deserves a lighter punishment. This obviously was not written with Donald Trump in mind. The pre-sentence report is also a chance for a crime victim to explain how he or she has suffered. That's really going to be the prosecutors speaking on behalf of the people of the state of New York and of America. Think about that paragraph and its application to Donald Trump. Here's your chance to make a good impression. Oh my God. This is like a corny tick-tock on how to get a job. You can talk about how you have a steady job.

I'm not even sure what his steady job is, by the way. I guess it's running what just got a judge to be a fraudulent enterprise in New York, which is certainly gonna be part of the pre-sentencing memo. So he makes his money from a company that's barely out of the woods for having been found to have committed fraud for the last 10 years,

and received the proceeds of those frauds to the tune of $465 million, which is being clawed back by the attorney general for the state of New York. So you can talk about that, I guess. Help with an ailing family member. I haven't seen Melania in a long, long time, publicly with him really at

all and they not only live together, they live together at a place where Donald Trump allegedly works, Mar-a-Lago, where he's giving the interview for this particular probation pre-sentencing report. Will Melania make an appearance in it? I doubt it. Now, the probation officers are allowed to interview family members, you know, the kids who have been very public. They're very public when it's on, you know, TikTok or it's on social media, but are they gonna sit for an interview and be interviewed

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jumping from meeting to meeting or catching a flight or a dinner out, the Rhone commuter collection has never let me down. Even after I wear it all day, I still feel super fresh because of that Gold Fusion anti-odor technology. Head to rhone.com slash Legal AF and use promo code Legal AF to save 20% off your entire order. That's 20% off your entire order when you head to rhone.com slash Legal AF and use code Legal AF. It's time to find your corner office. So I just thought it was a little bit humorous that, you know, putting Donald Trump through the mill of the regular criminal justice system, this is what results. Now, the judge is allowing Donald Trump to do it by video conference. It's not that unusual. I mean, post COVID, he's going to be at Mar-a-Lago

apparently. The lawyer is participating, Todd Planche. I mean, I've seen that happen before. It's not that unusual. And as even this primer for the pre-sentencing report on the government website says, it's an opportunity for the lawyers to advocate. Now, usually that's done after the interview and then there's a separate conversation or submission by the lawyers for the defendant. But Todd Blanch can do it there and I'm sure they're going to be doing the exact opposite of what every other defendant does. They're not going to take or accept responsibility. They're going to talk at length about some appeal that they're ultimately going to lose.

They're going to talk about this being a witch hunt and that this is law fair and that it's a lawless prosecution by the Manhattan DA. You know, all the stuff I've stitched together from all the social media posts, from all the people now supporting Donald Trump and all the MAGA that are supporting Donald Trump, some version of that. It'll be haranguing and abusing the probation officer, not exactly the try to make a great impression while you're in there recommendation of the FAQ for this particular thing. So that's what's gonna happen. And Donald Trump is gonna have to take responsibility,

or at least in making out the report, you know the probation department is gonna list, well, his companies and he were judged to have committed fraud against the state of New York by the New York attorney general. And after a 12 week trial in New York, which he owes a $465 million judgment, sure, subject to an appeal, but that goes into the report. He has not one but two judgments against him for which he had opposed a $100 million or so bond brought by E. Gene Carroll,

the victim of his sexual abuse and defamation and punitive damages to boot, and he's got that running against him. So the probation officer will have to write that down. He's the subject of other lawsuits around the country for fraud in his business dealings, including two class action lawsuits. He's got not one, not two, not three, but four separate criminal convictions, sorry, criminal prosecutions against them, one which resulted in this conviction, Georgia, Mar-a-Lago, DC election interference and New York. He's mentioned as an unindicted co-conspirator in a number of other cases around the country,

including brought by the Attorney Generals of at least Michigan so we're gonna talk about that that all goes in there. So sure Donald Trump doesn't have a prior criminal record But he has a lot going on. He's you know, like I said on a recent legal AF. He's like a star NBA player He's filling up the boxes, rebounds, assists, points. You know, he's doing it all. He's filling all those boxes for a very complicated, unique probation pre-sentencing report. And this all goes to the judge, along with the recommendations and the advocacy of the prosecutors. And they're now trying to,

I'll do another hot take on this, they're trying to put together their thoughts about what they're asking for. Are they asking for the ultimate jail time? I've heard some reporting say it's only four years of ultimate jail time, that's not true. It's up to a certain amount per count, there's 34 counts. The top end of this would be 20 years. So you got 20 years on the extreme in jail. That's not happening.

You've got probation and or community service and a slap on the wrist. I don't think that's what they're recommending either for the prosecution. And then you've got things in between. Some combination of incarceration, home confinement, fines, community service, all of that as a proposal. And then you got the defense, it's gonna propose nothing.

I mean, when I say propose nothing, that nothing happened to Donald Trump. That it's a fraud, it's a witch hunt, it's a ruse, it's reversible error, it's gonna be reversed on appeal, he shouldn't be given any sentence, that's not happening. So the judge is gonna be left with a coherent advocacy that makes sense, that has logical internal consistency by the prosecution, and then the sentencing report, the pre-sentencing report prepared

by probation with the input of Donald Trump off this interview and a mental health evaluation to boot. Good luck with that. And then the judge is going to have to be, you know, the buck stops with the judge on July 11th. Technically, technically, the day that Donald Trump is officially a convicted felon is really the 11th of July. There has to be a judgment entered off of the conviction. He was convicted by the jury, but in our system of justice in New York and in other places, there has to be a judgment of conviction entered by the judge that hasn't yet been entered yet that will be entered on July 11th at the time of the sentencing along with the sentencing. And then

that, the judgment of conviction and the sentencing, that can then be appealed together, not piecemeal by Donald Trump to two levels of appeal. The Court of Appeals is at the top, that's the highest court in New York. Middle court over Manhattan appellate decisions is the appellate department first, first the appellate division first department. So that was sort of the overview, a little bit of a tutorial about what's gonna happen with the sentencing process and all of the pitfalls

you can see with Donald Trump. I'm gonna do it right here on Legal AF every Wednesday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Now you know why we call it Legal AF the podcast. We curate the top four or five stories at the intersection of law and politics just like I did just there in that particular hot take. And then if you like this hot take, give me a thumbs up and leave a message. It really helps with the algorithms and signals that you want more, not less of these types of hot takes and keeps us on the air. So until my next hot take, until my next Legal AF,

this is Michael Popak reporting. Heary, heary, Legal AF Law Breakdown is now in session. Go beyond the headlines and get a deep dive into the important legal concepts you need to know and we discuss every day on Legal AF. Exclusive content you won't find anywhere else, all for the price of a couple of cups of coffee. Join us at patreon.com slash Legal AF. That's patreon.com slash Legal AF.