Does DA Bragg have spare ‘Ace’ list of charges against Trump?

The Hill ponders that very question…..

It involves charging Trump with tax evasion whish IS more solid felony charge….

(Could state tax charges generate Federal tax charges?)

The statement of facts notes that Trump’s organization inflated payments to Cohen to account for the taxes the fixer would have to pay on what was being reported as income rather than a reimbursement.

“If Trump knows about that, was aware of that, and approved of the falsification of the records in order to conceal the hush money payments and in order to allow Michael Cohen to get a full repayment for the hush money payments he had made, then the tax violation here — offering a false instrument for filing — is in fact one of the crimes that is being covered up through the falsification of business records,” said Josh Stanton, an attorney with Perry Guha who has penned analyses of Bragg’s case.

The documents say Trump and others “mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the payments made in furtherance of the scheme,” but when asked to elaborate, Bragg declined.

“I’m not going to go beyond the plain language in the statement of facts, we think it speaks for itself,” he said in a press conference with reporters just after Trump’s arraignment concluded.

Eisen said the tax statute does give Bragg additional options as he builds his case. Attorneys aren’t expected in court again until December on the matter.

“The DA is notifying Trump and all of us this may be an issue that he will litigate at trial. You know, it’s very common for prosecutors to cast a broad net and then to focus in on their case,” Eisen said.

“Think of it this way. There’s two campaign finance [violations]. There’s state campaign finance violations; federal campaign finance violations — that’s belt and suspenders. This is an additional possibility. Think of it as belt, suspenders, and duct tape. He’s taking no chances on holding up his case, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Trump on Tuesday pleaded not guilty on all 34 counts, but it’s still not entirely clear what charges Bragg plans to bring.

Trump’s attorneys must file a bill of particulars in order to get the full scope of Bragg’s claims.

“They do not have to specify the crime at this juncture; they will have to down the road. And the best way to read the sprinkling of the reference to potential tax violation is that they are clearly reserving the right to use that state tax statute as a third way of elevating what would ordinarily be a misdemeanor into a felony,” said Jeff Robbins, a former prosecutor now in private practice.

The dozens of charges reflect each of the checks that Trump signed to Cohen, at least nine of which he signed directly.

Stanton noted it’s not unusual for prosecutors to hold back on some elements of their case….

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