Progressive political activist Francesca Fiorentini lashed out on British journalist Piers Morgan’s show on Monday when he asked her about the verdict in former President Donald Trump’s trial.
Fiorentini appeared on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” to discuss Trump’s 34-felony conviction, which was filed last week by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. During his discussion with The Daily Wire’s Michael J. Knowles, criminal defense lawyer Mark Geragos and Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary, Knowles detailed his views on the political motivation behind the case and criticized Fiorentini’s ignorance of the charges. (Related article: Republican senators who don’t support Trump)
“My fellow panelists congratulate me on the vindication of the rule of law and the overturning of 234 years of American legal tradition,” Knowles said. “I challenge her to try and explain what crimes Trump committed and how. Until now, District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been unable to explain it, and neither has the judge in this case, Judge Marchan, been able to explain it. Trump cannot explain it because he did not commit any of the crimes he has been convicted of.”
“So let me just ask you briefly … on that point, what crime did Trump commit?” Morgan asked Fiorentini.
“That was financial crime during the campaign,” Fiorentini responded. “It was white-collar crime, and that’s why he was charged and convicted.”
“What was that?” Morgan demanded.
“But which one?” added Mr Knowles.
“What was the crime?” Morgan continued.
“That’s New York state law!” Fiorentini shouted.
“Okay. What was the crime?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t like that he actually got convicted on 34 counts of manipulating bookings,” Fiorentini said. “So it’s not OK to use your own fortune, your own money, to bribe somebody. And he recorded it as something separate. He recorded it as a regular payment. But he was actually making this payment for hush money. If he hadn’t run for president it wouldn’t have been an issue, but he was. So it affected New York state campaign finance law, OK? That’s what Juan Marchand oversaw. Alvin Bragg prosecuted these charges, and Michael Cohen already got a three-year sentence.”
Morgan then turned to Geragos and asked him if Fiorentini’s assessment of the case was correct from a legal standpoint, to which Geragos responded by saying he would “educate her” on the matter. As the criminal defense lawyers continued their defense, Fiorentini was seen looking down at what appeared to be his cell phone before turning his attention to Geragos.
Knowles then blasted Fiorentini again, again pointing out her lack of knowledge, prompting Fiorentini to fire back at the Daily Wire commentator.
“I don’t want to blame Francesca too much, but it’s very indicative that even liberals who are on TV defending this sentence have to Google what the crime was during breaks. And unfortunately, even in those cases, the actual alleged crime is misrepresented,” Knowles said.
“It’s literally not mine so I’ll Google it [job]”! I said he was falsifying the books, which is the same thing,” Fiorentini interjected.
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to secret payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s former lawyer and key prosecution witness, Michael Cohen, alleged in court testimony that Trump directed the payments and agreed to be repaid for the scheme through false business records.
One of Bragg’s lead prosecutors, Michael Colangelo, previously served as Biden’s acting assistant attorney general and spent two years in the Biden administration, and received thousands of dollars in “political consulting” fees from the Democratic National Committee in 2018, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
The presiding judge, Juan Marchan, also was found to have donated $35 to the Democratic Party through the Democratic Party’s online fundraising platform ActBlue in 2020. The donations were designated as $15 to Biden, $10 to the Progressive Turnout Project, a Democratic outreach organization, and $10 to a subsidiary organization of the Progressive Turnout Project called Stop Republicans. Federal Election Records.
