(Trends Wide) — The landmark indictment against former President Donald Trump, as well as court documents related to the case, have finally been made public.
The criminal charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into alleged hush payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies.
Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up criminal conduct that concealed harmful information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” according to the charging documents.
Each criminal charge Trump faces relates to a specific entry in the Trump Organization’s business records.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Here is an analysis of the charges and the evidence presented against Trump in the indictment and court documents:
Prosecutors Point to Trump’s “Illegal” Election Influence Scheme as Support for Felony Charges
Bragg is not accusing Trump of an election law violation or conspiracy related to that alleged campaign conduct. However, falsifying business records — the charge for which Trump faces 34 counts — is only a felony if the records were falsified with the intent to commit or conceal another crime.
The indictment says that, for all 34 counts, Trump had “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and help conceal the commission thereof.”
Bragg claimed at his press conference on Tuesday that business records were falsified in 2017 with the intent to conceal criminal conduct related to the 2016 campaign. He cited a New York state law that makes it a crime to conspire to further a candidacy by illegal means.
The statement of facts warns in a footnote that “it does not contain all the facts relevant to the alleged conduct.”
Trump and Cohen reached a payment agreement in the Oval Office, prosecutors say
According to the charging documents, the editor-in-chief and CEO of the National Enquirer approached then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen shortly after an Access Hollywood recording became public in October 2016, telling Cohen that adult film actress Stormy Daniels claimed she was having an affair with Trump.
The charging documents say that Cohen negotiated a hush money payment with Daniels to “ensure the silence [de Daniels] and prevent the release of damaging information in the final weeks before the presidential election.”
Trump allegedly concealed reimbursement payments to Cohen by writing monthly checks for “legal services,” according to the statement of facts, in a deal the two struck in the Oval Office.
Trump personally signed the checks reimbursing Cohen, prosecutors say, including $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for his signature on a confidentiality agreement.
He also allegedly agreed to pay Cohen $35,000 a month for a year, prosecutors say.
“In early February 2017, Defendant and Counsel A met in the Oval Office of the White House and confirmed this payment agreement,” the statement of facts reads.
Many of these specific facts have been public for years. Cohen publicly revealed one of the $35,000 checks while testifying before Congress in 2019 in an effort to substantiate his story that Trump played a role in coordinating and orchestrating the payment to Daniels.
Some payments, central to Trump’s charges, come directly from his bank account
Prosecutors say the checks were paid monthly — including some coming directly from Trump’s bank account — to Cohen. They claim these were disguised as attorney payments, when they were not.
“Each check was processed by the Trump Organization, and each check was disguised as a payment for legal services rendered in a given month in 2017 pursuant to a retainer agreement,” prosecutors wrote in the statement of facts accompanying the indictment. .
“The payment records, kept and maintained by the Trump Organization, were false New York business records. In truth, there was no retainer agreement, and Attorney A was not paid for legal services rendered in 2017,” he adds, referring to Cohen.
Participants in the alleged scheme knew the payments were illegal, prosecutors say
According to the statement of facts, the participants in the alleged illegal secret money scheme, including Cohen, admitted that the payments to the two women were illegal.
In late 2018, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the publisher of the National Enquirer, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in connection with payment to Karen McDougal, another woman who allegedly had an affair with Trump — something he denies — because of her story about Trump, the statement of facts says.
AMI told authorities that it never intended to publish McDougal’s story and paid McDougal “not to publish prejudicial allegations” about Trump “before the 2016 presidential election and thereby influence those allegations.” elections,” says the statement of facts.
It also cites Cohen’s federal guilty plea, which says he worked under Trump’s direction to arrange payment of the two women, McDougal and Daniels, to stop stories that could be damaging to Trump.
This story will be updated as more details become known.
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(Trends Wide) — The landmark indictment against former President Donald Trump, as well as court documents related to the case, have finally been made public.
The criminal charges stem from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into alleged hush payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claimed they had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies.
Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up criminal conduct that concealed harmful information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” according to the charging documents.
Each criminal charge Trump faces relates to a specific entry in the Trump Organization’s business records.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Here is an analysis of the charges and the evidence presented against Trump in the indictment and court documents:
Prosecutors Point to Trump’s “Illegal” Election Influence Scheme as Support for Felony Charges
Bragg is not accusing Trump of an election law violation or conspiracy related to that alleged campaign conduct. However, falsifying business records — the charge for which Trump faces 34 counts — is only a felony if the records were falsified with the intent to commit or conceal another crime.
The indictment says that, for all 34 counts, Trump had “intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and help conceal the commission thereof.”
Bragg claimed at his press conference on Tuesday that business records were falsified in 2017 with the intent to conceal criminal conduct related to the 2016 campaign. He cited a New York state law that makes it a crime to conspire to further a candidacy by illegal means.
The statement of facts warns in a footnote that “it does not contain all the facts relevant to the alleged conduct.”
Trump and Cohen reached a payment agreement in the Oval Office, prosecutors say
According to the charging documents, the editor-in-chief and CEO of the National Enquirer approached then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen shortly after an Access Hollywood recording became public in October 2016, telling Cohen that adult film actress Stormy Daniels claimed she was having an affair with Trump.
The charging documents say that Cohen negotiated a hush money payment with Daniels to “ensure the silence [de Daniels] and prevent the release of damaging information in the final weeks before the presidential election.”
Trump allegedly concealed reimbursement payments to Cohen by writing monthly checks for “legal services,” according to the statement of facts, in a deal the two struck in the Oval Office.
Trump personally signed the checks reimbursing Cohen, prosecutors say, including $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for his signature on a confidentiality agreement.
He also allegedly agreed to pay Cohen $35,000 a month for a year, prosecutors say.
“In early February 2017, Defendant and Counsel A met in the Oval Office of the White House and confirmed this payment agreement,” the statement of facts reads.
Many of these specific facts have been public for years. Cohen publicly revealed one of the $35,000 checks while testifying before Congress in 2019 in an effort to substantiate his story that Trump played a role in coordinating and orchestrating the payment to Daniels.
Some payments, central to Trump’s charges, come directly from his bank account
Prosecutors say the checks were paid monthly — including some coming directly from Trump’s bank account — to Cohen. They claim these were disguised as attorney payments, when they were not.
“Each check was processed by the Trump Organization, and each check was disguised as a payment for legal services rendered in a given month in 2017 pursuant to a retainer agreement,” prosecutors wrote in the statement of facts accompanying the indictment. .
“The payment records, kept and maintained by the Trump Organization, were false New York business records. In truth, there was no retainer agreement, and Attorney A was not paid for legal services rendered in 2017,” he adds, referring to Cohen.
Participants in the alleged scheme knew the payments were illegal, prosecutors say
According to the statement of facts, the participants in the alleged illegal secret money scheme, including Cohen, admitted that the payments to the two women were illegal.
In late 2018, American Media, Inc. (AMI), the publisher of the National Enquirer, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in connection with payment to Karen McDougal, another woman who allegedly had an affair with Trump — something he denies — because of her story about Trump, the statement of facts says.
AMI told authorities that it never intended to publish McDougal’s story and paid McDougal “not to publish prejudicial allegations” about Trump “before the 2016 presidential election and thereby influence those allegations.” elections,” says the statement of facts.
It also cites Cohen’s federal guilty plea, which says he worked under Trump’s direction to arrange payment of the two women, McDougal and Daniels, to stop stories that could be damaging to Trump.
This story will be updated as more details become known.
