Bret Weinstein on legal: what the evidence says · JRE #2198
SUBJECT: LEGAL
The short answer
Weinstein claims Trump's New York hush-money conviction was for a misdemeanor that was past the statute of limitations and that prosecuting him this way is unconstitutional. On May 30, 2024, a Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, a class E felony under New York law, not a misdemeanor; falsifying business records is a misdemeanor only when it lacks intent to commit or conceal another crime, which prosecutors argued and the jury found here.
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
That's a misdemeanor That is past the statute of limitations not only that but I Don't think you have to really even squint at it to see that it's just simply unconstitutional to point the courts at particular people and not other
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
On May 30, 2024, a Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, a class E felony under New York law, not a misdemeanor; falsifying business records is a misdemeanor only when it lacks intent to commit or conceal another crime, which prosecutors argued and the jury found here. The defense did raise a statute-of-limitations argument before trial, since the underlying 2016-2017 conduct would fall outside the normal window, but prosecutors contended the clock was tolled during the years Trump was out of New York (including his time in the White House and Florida), and that argument was not upheld as a bar to prosecution: the case proceeded to verdict and conviction. Trump's team has separately argued the prosecution was selective and unconstitutional, including a 2026 bid before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to move the case to federal court or void it on presidential immunity grounds; Hellerstein rejected those arguments as "neither new nor legally sufficient," and the conviction remains intact while a state appeal continues. Overall, the charges were felonies rather than misdemeanors, and courts that have reviewed the statute-of-limitations and constitutional objections have so far rejected them rather than found the prosecution time-barred or unconstitutional.