ILLINOIS LEGAL NEWS & VIDEOS

Chicago Criminal Attorney John Heiderscheidt Comments on the Likelihood of Jail for Trump after Judge Merchan Finds Him in Contempt

Judge Merchan who is presiding over the Trump Hush Money Trial found former President Donald Trump in contempt for violating the Court’s gag order in the case. Trump’s lawyers have argued the gag order is Constitutionally impermissible. For the first time, on record, Judge Merchan warned the former President that jail could be a consequence of continued willful violations of the gag order.

The violations of the gag order center around social media tweets the President has made about potential witnesses and, at times, court personnel. “This highlights a situation where the client doesn’t want to follow the rules a Court puts in place for trial,” said Chicago Criminal and Immigration Attorney John Heiderscheidt.

“Because this situation hasn’t happened before, we really don’t have much in the way of binding precedent to help the Court figure out how to handle the situation. Although jail has been mentioned by the Court, it seems an extraordinary step. I doubt the Court would do more than something symbolic, like a temporary hold in a courthouse cell for a few hours. But even a symbolic hold would be enormously impactful from a political and precedential perspective.”  

Chicago Criminal Attorney Questions the Helpfulness of McDougal Evidence in Hush Money Trial

Today David Pecker testified to the jury regarding former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Mr. Pecker described buying Ms. McDougal’s story for $150,000 and disguising the payment as a deal for other services, effectively concealing what may have been an illegal donation to Mr. Trump’s campaign. Under questioning from prosecutors, Mr. Pecker acknowledged that this type of arrangement — in which a corporation was spending money to influence the election — was unlawful.

“Pecker’s testimony gives jurors an alternate theory for why Trump participated in a “catch and kill” transaction – for personal rather than campaign benefit. It is also unclear how the law will support a conviction where the alleged underlying conduct  complained of is not criminal in nature,” said John Heiderscheidt.

Chicago Criminal Attorney John Heiderscheidt Comments on Opening Statements in Trump Hush Money Trial

The opening statements for the trial concerning former President Donald Trump and the 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels have begun. 

The State spoke for almost ten minutes longer than the Defense. At issue in the case is whether Trump’s payments to Stormy Daniels through Lawyer Michael Cohen were legal expenses or unlawful campaign contributions. The Southern District of New York declined to prosecute this case while Trump was President, though CNN legal analysts offered opinions qualifying why that may have been. 

One major question to be answered is whether Trump will testify. The Judge made preliminary evidentiary rulings that will help the State’s cross examination of Trump should he testify in his own defense. Trump predictably blasted the motives of the prosecutor and decried the underpinnings of the case as a hoax. 

“I don’t envy the position Trump’s lawyers face,” said John Heiderscheidt, a Chicago Criminal Attorney. “At heart this will come down to the jury’s analysis of intent. Do you put him on and risk all the negatives from the civil rape and fraud cases on cross? Or do you just say they can’t make their burden because Michael Cohen is a liar and hope the jury overlooks his non-testimony? It is a very close strategy call, made more difficult by the prejudicial material the Judge would admit on cross examination.” 

The State’s first witness took the stand for approximately 30 minutes, but testimony was cut short due to an alternate juror’s dental appointment. The parties expect trial to last several weeks. 

Chicago Immigration Attorney John Heiderscheidt Comments on Migrant Website’s Murky Details Surrounding $300 Million Funding

Although the City of Chicago has a website dedicated to monitoring how nearly $300 million is being spent on the migrant crisis, it seems as though details are still murky as to how the city is spending that money. The details of how the money is being spent remain a mystery due to how the city is handling the migrant crisis. The City of Chicago has outsourced a majority of operations and staffing to private companies.

Favorite Healthcare Staffing, a healthcare staffing agency based in Kansas, has been paid more than $206 million. Equitable Social Solutions, a Kentucky-based organization that partners with cities such as Chicago to help locate housing for migrants, was paid $45 million.

Missing from the website, which was put together by Mayor Johnson’s administration, are details regarding how much profit these companies are making. Documents like leasing contracts and how much developers and building owners are making off of allowing the city to convert their buildings into shelters are noticeably absent from the website.

Attorney Heiderscheidt included his thoughts on the situation saying, “The City has badly handled this crisis and it should be turned over to federal authorities, as the law requires.”