Former President Donald Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. These charges relate to an alleged cover-up of a $130,000 hush-money payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, aimed at silencing her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump.
What Makes These Charges Felonies?
In New York State, falsifying business records can be a misdemeanor. However, if the falsification is done with the intent to conceal another crime, it becomes a felony. This means that prosecutors don’t have to prove the other crime actually occurred, only that there was intent to commit or cover it up. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg suggested that Trump concealed three potential crimes, though Trump hasn’t been charged with any of those specific crimes.
The Business Records in Question
The $130,000 payment to Daniels was made by Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, during the final days of the 2016 campaign. Cohen has said he did this at Trump’s direction. While making hush-money payments isn’t necessarily illegal, the issue arises with how Trump reimbursed Cohen during his presidency. The Trump Organization labeled these reimbursements as legal expenses, citing a retainer agreement. Prosecutors claim there was no such agreement and the classification was fraudulent.
The 34 counts of falsifying business records include 11 counts related to the checks issued to Cohen, 11 for the monthly invoices Cohen submitted, and 12 for entries in Trump’s company’s general ledger.
What Were the Possible Concealed Crimes?
Prosecutors have suggested that the falsified records were intended to cover up three potential crimes: a federal campaign finance violation, tax fraud, and a state election-law crime. During the trial, they’ve focused mainly on the state election-law crime, pointing to an alleged conspiracy to influence the election.
The theory is that Trump, Cohen, and David Pecker, former publisher of The National Enquirer, worked together to suppress stories that could damage Trump’s 2016 campaign. Pecker testified that the tabloid bought stories from a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who claimed to have had an affair with Trump, and then sat on the story. Regarding Stormy Daniels, Pecker suggested that Cohen should buy her story instead of The National Enquirer.
The allegations of a broader conspiracy to sway the election are central to why these charges are treated as felonies. Essentially, the prosecution is arguing that the falsified business records were part of a larger scheme to protect Trump’s political career.
