Why did they chose to do a civil and not criminal case against the Trump Foundation?

[Quixote1818]

Don't most regular folks doing this see years in prison? Thoughts?



Interesting article: https://newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-inconvenient-legal-troubles-that-lie-ahead-for-the-trump-foundation/amp?__twitter_impression=true

[alwaysinasnit]

1. AG Underwood doesn't have the authority to bring federal criminal charges.

"The Attorney General made clear that her evidence could support criminal cases against the Trumps, but she has no jurisdiction to bring such charges, since tax and campaign fraud are federal matters. She referred the case to federal officials, though it seems unlikely that the I.R.S. or the Federal Election Commission would choose to prosecute a sitting President or his children."

However, David Cay Johnston has suggested and is urging all of us to help get tRump's tax returns made public.

https://www.dcreport.org/2018/07/05/johnston-in-the-ny-times-how-to-make-trumps-tax-returns-public/

[Quixote1818]

3. So if Trump is out of office after 2020 what are the chances they would pursue criminal charges

and would that not mean we could see several family members go to jail?

[alwaysinasnit]

6. Theoretically, whenever tRump leaves the White House he will be fair game.

My sense is that Mueller is gathering rock-solid evidence and making sure that the chains of custody dealing with the evidence are as airtight as possible. I believe that Mueller will be anticipating defendants' legal arguments and objections and is preparing for them. He will likely hand over his work to appropriate federal prosecutors who have the necessary integrity to pursue this case. The kids are fair game now but the cases are not yet complete and I don't believe Mueller will want to show his hand too early.

The thing that gives me hope in this nightmare is that Mueller has integrity, grit, savvy, and experience. He has also assembled the creme of experienced attorneys. The fact that Mueller is following the money trail and using white collar crime experts gives me some optimism that the tRump cabal will be brought down. The other thing that is telling is that there are no unauthorized leaks.

The biggest variable is who will control the course of Mueller's investigation. Rosenstein so far has done an admirable job, but at some point I expect that things will get too hot for tRump and he will go ballistic and do something drastic, and I have no hope that the Republicans in Congress will even try to stop him.

[Princess Turandot]

2. The NY AG does not have criminal jurisdiction in the case...

The main crime here would be federal income tax related, since the foundation is used to fraudulently reduce one tax bill. She has informed the IRS of her findings, for them to consider action on that front.

The lawsuit is a civil action, seeking the dissolution of the Trump Foundation and a prohibition on Trump and the other directors serving on the boards of other charities. Underwood also asks that the foundation’s $1 million in current assets be distributed to other charities, and that Trump pay at least $2.8 million in restitution. The AG’s office does not have criminal jurisdiction over charities, but it also sent referral letters to the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Election Commission laying out potential violations of federal criminal law for future investigation.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/new-york-ag-says-trump-charity-funded-campaign/562832/

[Hekate]

4. Different rules and procedures apply. When the murder case against OJ Simpson failed...

...his dead wife's family brought a civil suit against him for monetary damages, which iirc they won.

Not being a lawyer, I can't really explain it, but sometimes it seems to operate as a kind of workaround in achieving justice.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Aside from jurisdictional questions, civil actions usually have lower...

standards of proof and so are easier to "win".

[hlthe2b]

7. NY has a quirk in their charity statute that does not allow for NYAG to bring criminal charges

UNLESS the Governor specifically authorizes her to do so. That's why David Caye Johnston (and others) have been urging activists to contact the Governor demanding he give her that authority. RIght now, all she can do is bring a civil action.