Former President Donald Trump has been charged by a New York grand jury with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday after Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The charges, written in bland statutory language, fall under “falsifying business records in the first degree” for a series of checks made to Michael Cohen and two others (“Woman 2”, and “The Doorman”). The payments were concealed behind shell companies and falsified records.
You can read the full indictment below.
The accompanying Statement of Facts provides more information about the charges against Donald Trump. Primarily, it appears as if the case will center around Trump’s attempt to conceal criminal conduct from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election. In short:
- Election laws were violated when Trump purchased (from the National Enquirer) and suppressed negative information about him. The nature of the payments made for this information were further hidden from the public and tax authorities.
- An illegal “catch and kill” payment of $130,00 was paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels which should have been characterized as a campaign contribution but instead, was hidden from the authorities.
- “Doorman” attempted to sell information related to a child he says Trump fathered out of wedlock. The doorman was paid $30,000 to suppress the story.
- Audio exists of Trump and Cohen discussing how to suppress a woman’s (“Woman 1”) account of sexual impropriety including using cash to conceal the payment.
- A deal was negotiated with “Woman 2” to prevent disclosure of “damaging information”.
- Attempts were made to pressure Cohen to not cooperate with law enforcement and proposed a “back channel of communication”.
You can read the complete People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump Statement of Facts (SOF) below.
