No. of Recommendations: 1
The point is optics. The point is a criminal conviction with absolutely no consequences. How do you tell your children that no one is above the law when a felon convicted of multiple counts gets off with zero consequences?
How are the optics any different if the judge imposes a $60,000 fine? To be paid in four years? I think that's the most that can be imposed - $5K per set of acts, and there were a dozen entries of the payments to Cohen, IIRC. That's a rounding error on his legal bill for this case, and he'd never actually pay it.
The consequences for Donald Trump are that he is a felon. No monetary fine would ever have been a real consequence for him, because the fines for these types of violations are low - it's the prison that is the consequence, not the fines, under the Penal Code. So once prison is out the window, a fine is pretty useless. Even for optics.
