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June 10, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: I find it interesting that Democrats are excited about the questionable New York trial that found Donald Trump guilty of misreporting campaign expenditures as legal expenses.
Yet, they ignore the fact that Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton were found guilty of the same charge. The Federal Election Commission found their campaign had claimed money paid to Fusion GPS for the infamous phony Steele Dossier creation as a legal expense. The Kaine-Clinton campaign was fined $113,000 for misreporting the expenditure.
At the time of the decision, the FEC had investigated Trump and found no violation of the law. A New York prosecutor disagreed and decided to charge him for violations of New York law. The problem was the violations were a misdemeanor in New York law and the statute of limitations had passed for action. So, in a twist of the law, he moved the violations from a misdemeanor to a felony.
The trial is clearly going to be appealed for many problems — one big one being Trump was not allowed to call FEC officials to explain the law or explain why they did not find grounds to charge Trump. In short, restricting the defendant the opportunity to call expert defense witnesses!
Whether you support or oppose Trump, he deserves a fair trial and this was anything but fair. A prosecutor who said he would get Trump (get a man rather than enforce the laws); a judge clearly who supported Trump’s opponent and donated to him plus had a daughter working for the Biden campaign. The accused was given a gag order but all opposed to him free to attack, make negative comments, and false statements!
This is not the legal system our Constitution calls for. I just hope this travesty of justice does not become the norm. JAN LOWRY Lexington
