New York prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled another crime they say former President Trump tried to cover up when he allegedly falsified business records.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. To secure a criminal conviction, prosecutors must convince a jury that Trump committed the crime of falsifying business records in “facilitation of another crime.”
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Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges.
New York State Attorney Joshua Steinglass said Tuesday that the other crime is a violation of a New York state law called “conspiracy to promote or prevent an election.”
Prosecutors aim to prove that this was done to cover up a conspiracy to unfairly promote candidacy.
Former President Donald Trump, along with his attorney Tod Blanche, appear during Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan state court in 2016 for falsifying business records to hide money paid to hush porn star Stormy Daniels.・Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo makes his opening statement during the hearing before Judge Marchan. This courtroom sketch on April 22, 2024 in New York City, USA. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg)
“If two or more persons conspire to promote or prevent election to public office by unlawful means, and the conspiracy is committed by one or more of the parties, they are guilty of a misdemeanor.” New York Reading State Law 17-152.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said in opening arguments Monday that the case against Trump is “about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up.”
Colangelo invited former American Media Inc. (AMI) CEO David Pecker to Trump Tower several months after Trump announced his candidacy for president in June 2015. He claimed to have had a meeting. His lawyer and “fixer” at the time, Michael Cohen, was also present at the meeting. AMI owned the National Inquirer.
“Those three men orchestrated a conspiracy to influence the election,” Colangelo said.
Colangelo claimed that Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to “shut up” her and keep the public from knowing about her alleged sexual encounters with Trump. Colangelo claimed that after her election, Trump repaid Cohen through a series of monthly checks from her own firm, but disguised the payments as payments for her legal services.
Colangelo alleges that Pecker, Cohen and Trump “conspired to influence the 2016 presidential election” and prevented Pecker from collecting damaging information and making it public. Then he said. Colangelo claimed he only published unflattering articles about Trump and negative articles about his opponents.
Colangelo claims the men used a practice known as “catch and kill” to purchase harmful information, force the sellers of the information to sign non-disclosure agreements, and then prevent the information from being released. did.
On Monday, April 22, 2024, former President Donald Trump appears for the first day of opening arguments in his trial in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. (Victor J. Blue/Washington Post, via AP, Pool)
Colangelo said the practice was used three times. The first time was to stop a story that a former Trump Tower doorman was trying to sell about an alleged child born out of wedlock. The amount paid was $30,000, Colangelo said. The doorman’s story ultimately turned out to be false.
Bragg says he plans to ‘discredit’ Trump if he testifies for defense in criminal trial
The next person to be paid was Karen McDougall, a former Playboy model who claimed to have had a romantic and sexual relationship with President Trump. Mr. Colangelo claimed that Mr. Cohen asked AMI to buy the article. Colangelo said AMI paid him $150,000 in exchange for “unrestricted life rights” to McDougal’s story.
Mr. Colangelo also claimed that Mr. Daniels was paid $130,000.
Colangelo said that when it came time to repay Cohen, Trump “didn’t negotiate a lower price and doubled the amount.” “The willingness to do this shows the importance of concealing payments,” Colangelo argued, calling for a “whole election conspiracy.”
However, Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, rejected the prosecution’s argument and declared, “President Trump is innocent.”
“None of this was a crime,” Blanche said. “People say Trump is trying to hide the payments, but think about it…President Trump didn’t give Cohen $130,000 back. He paid Cohen $420,000.”
He added: “Would a frugal businessman pay off a $130,000 debt down to $420,000?”
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 21: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Blanche said the money was “not a quid pro quo” and that Trump had paid for her legal fees in 2017 after the election.
He added: “Spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence elections. It’s called democracy. They’re putting something sinister on it.”
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Blanche argued that it was “not illegal” for Cohen to pay Daniels, and that it was not illegal to enter into a non-disclosure agreement, adding that companies “do that all the time.”
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Blanche said there was “nothing illegal about this” and that Daniels was trying to embarrass Trump with “all kinds of allegations” that could be “damaging to Trump and his family.” insisted.
“Mr. Trump fought back to protect his family, reputation and brand,” Branch said. “And it’s not a crime.”
