Until today, it had been over 200 years since the state of New York held a witch trial. Jane “Naut” Kanniff, defended herself against charges that she was a witch in a 1816 New York court. Miss Kanniff, however, at least knew what “crime” she was charged with having committed. She survived the process with an acquittal. Alvin Bragg, in contrast to Kanniff’s prosecutors, is taking Donald Trump to trial while accusing him of covering up a crime he has not specified.

Bragg’s indictment repeatedly alleges Trump made a false business entry to, “commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.” What crime? The indictment doesn’t say. Was it witchcraft? As I demonstrate below, I don’t think we can rule it out.

The New York hush money case is not complicated. To call it “complicated” suggests the indictment makes sense if you invest enough time and effort into reading through the documents. The indictment is nonsensical and unconstitutional on its face. Trump should not have to wait until trial to discover what law he’s accused of having broken. A jury should not be allowed to find Trump used his business records to “commit another crime” unless somebody proves beyond a reasonable doubt that “another crime” was committed.

Corporate media ignores this obvious weakness in the case by salaciously harping on Donald Trump’s alleged affair with Stormy Daniels. Such an affair, if it happened, is not illegal and is not the crime with which Trump is charged. They hint darkly at a campaign finance violation. Again, Trump has not been charged with violating any campaign finance laws in this case. They speak solemnly about a hush money agreement used to hide the affair. Again, not illegal and not charged.

In the accompanying “Statement of Facts,” Bragg accused Trump of hiding, “damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.” If true, that is also not a crime nor has Trump been charged with hiding damaging information. Bragg also alleged Trump, “violated election laws.” Which laws? According to whom? Bragg does not say and Trump has not been charged by Bragg or anyone else with “violating election laws.”

It could be that Trump will be charged something in keeping with any of these theories or something new. But since the judge is allowing the prosecution to ambush Trump, we could be surprised by any charge they announce. Even witchcraft.

Defendants (other than Trump) are normally entitled to the Sixth Amendment guarantee, “to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation,” before a criminal trial can be held to imprison him. So again, he should know what crime he’s accused of covering up before showing up to trial.

If Bragg fails to prove any element of the charges, Donald Trump should be found not guilty, as a matter of law. If Donald Trump proves he never committed the “underlying” crime Bragg says he covered up, Trump wins. But how can Trump do that when it remains a closely guarded secret on the day of trial? We won’t know what Trump supposedly tried to cover up until the jury instructions. Bragg can wait until the case is over before picking a “crime” for his coverup charges.

The jury selection process began on Monday with no jurors selected. The trial will hamper Trump’s campaigning for president over the next six to eight weeks, at which point, he will simply have to pivot to his other legal matters.

Both Bragg and the presiding judge have assured the public that politics and the election play no part in this impartial administration of justice. That’s some powerful witchcraft itself.