Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-OH) relentless complaints that the 34 felony counts levied against Donald Trump by a Manhattan grand jury are based on nothing more than “bookkeeping errors” were brutally slapped aside by a former U.S. attorney in a column for MSNBC.
According to MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, who never passed the bar after graduating from law school, has a basic lack of knowledge of what constitutes white-collar crime and how often it is prosecuted.
In her column, she explained that white-collar crime is a serious offense and historically has been treated as such.
“In reality, offenses committed by the business elite can be just as serious as those committed by street criminals,” she wrote before adding. “In fact, I would argue that in some cases, white-collar crime is more egregious than crime committed by destitute people desperate for cash. These are crimes often motivated by greed, instead of need.”
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Turning to Trump’s alleged crimes detailed in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s extensive indictment, McQuade asserted, “According to the indictment, Trump orchestrated a scheme with others to “purchase negative information” about Trump ‘to benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects.’ The alleged scheme involved shell corporations and a complex series of financial transactions to disguise the payments as legal fees. According to the charging documents, the false records violated election and tax laws.”
She continued, “But even if the alleged scheme did not cause any voters to change their minds, the financial crimes are a serious matter,” before elaborating, “In other words, if we allow everyone to lie in their business records, then business markets will collapse because no one will be able to rely on them. Bragg noted that this crime is one that the Manhattan DA’s office charges on a regular basis.”
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