In order to bump the charges up from a misdemeanor to a felony, prosecutors have to show that Trump was not only falsifying the business records - but that he was doing it to conceal a separate crime. Why is it being charged as a felony here? Falsifying businesses is usually a misdemeanor charge. The former president pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
If the case gets through to trial, a jury or judge will decide whether he’s guilty or not guilty separately on each count. But the payments were routed through the Trump Organization and noted on the business’ ledgers.Įach of those checks, vouchers and ledger items is the subject of a separate charge Trump is facing - hence the 34 separate counts. The former president paid Cohen with his own personal funds and from his trust, not with money from his business. Cohen submitted vouchers fraudulently claiming the payments were for legal services. Trump then reimbursed Cohen with $35,000 monthly checks in 2017. Trump is accused of participating in a plan in which Michael Cohen, his lawyer and personal fixer at the time, cut the check to Daniels in exchange for her silence. It had to do with Melania, it had to do with his family, it had to do with God knows what.” “The defense, of course, is going to argue that it had nothing to do with the campaign. “The main challenge for District Attorney Bragg will be to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that all these transactions were in furtherance of Trump's election,” said Jerry Goldfeder, veteran election lawyer and director of the Fordham Law School Voting Rights and Democracy Project. But in this case, Trump is facing charges for allegedly covering the payment in his businesses’ records as part of a scheme to influence the 2016 election. No, it’s not illegal to pay someone hush money to keep a story quiet. Is it illegal to pay someone for their story? Daniels claims to have had an affair with Trump a decade prior, and was thinking of going public before the election. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is accusing Trump of falsifying, altering, deleting or omitting business records 34 different times in an attempt to cover up a different crime by him or someone else.Įach of those felony charges are directly connected to a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels less than two weeks before the 2016 election. Trump is accused of falsifying business records.
Here’s what we learned about the legal theories in this case and what to watch going forward. Gothamist pored over court records and sought input from a half-dozen New York attorneys about the underlying issues at play. Legal scholars are taking to the airwaves and opinion pages to offer praise or criticism for how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is laying out the prosecution’s case in court documents and public statements. But there’s still a lot to unravel about the complex case against the former president. president formally arrested and charged with a crime - 34 felony counts stemming from “hush money” payments made to an adult film star ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Donald Trump made history earlier this week becoming the first U.S.
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