Published 10:01 IST, April 5th 2023
Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts: Read the full indictment & 'Statement of Facts' here
The Manhattan DA’s office unveiled an indictment on Tuesday charging former US President Donald Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
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The unsealing of the historic indictment against former United States President Donald Trump has made the charges against him public. The prosecution accuses Trump of being part of an illegal scheme to suppress negative information that could potentially damage his campaign.
In particular, the indictment alleges that he ordered the illegal payment of $130,000 to suppress such information. According to the prosecution, Trump committed the crime of falsifying business records in part to "promote his candidacy".
This is the first time that Trump and his legal team will have access to the full extent of the charges against him and the evidence that the prosecution must present at trial.
The charges are the result of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to women who claimed to have had extramarital affairs with Trump, which he denies. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have vowed to fight to have the charges dropped.
The indictment specifies that each criminal charge against Trump relates to a specific entry in the business records of the Trump Organization. The prosecutors accuse Trump of repeatedly causing false entries in the business records. These alleged false entries are related to invoices from Michael Cohen, the "Detail General Ledger for Donald J. Trump" and his trust, or to Donald J. Trump's account checks.
The Trump Organisation is responsible for maintaining all of these records, according to the indictment. Furthermore, all of the entries are identified as having been made in 2017, as per the indictment.
A total of 34 charges against Trump
Trump is facing a total of 34 charges in relation to his alleged involvement in hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels. According to prosecutors, Trump attempted to disguise reimbursements to his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, as legal fees in order to conceal the payment to Daniels.
- Of the 34 charges, 11 are related to invoices submitted by Cohen for legal fees, which the prosecution claims were fraudulent.
- Another 11 counts are related to checks written by Trump or paid for using his funds to reimburse Cohen for the hush-money payment.
- The remaining 12 counts are related to ledger entries in accounting records made by the Trump Organisation for the reimbursements.
These charges are significant as they relate to an alleged effort by Trump to conceal his involvement in the hush-money payment, which was made to Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. The charges also indicate the level of detail that prosecutors have gone into in their investigation of Trump's financial dealings, and suggest that they have substantial evidence to support their case.
In addition to the indictment against Trump, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg has released a "statement of facts" document that outlines a broader scheme in which Trump and others allegedly engaged to avoid negative media coverage during the 2016 presidential campaign. This scheme reportedly involved hush-money payments to two women, one of whom claimed to have had an affair with Trump, and a former doorman who made an unverified claim that Trump had an illegitimate child.
Bragg's statement suggests that the indictment against Trump is just one part of a larger investigation into the former president's alleged misconduct. The inclusion of these additional allegations in the statement of facts could also indicate that Bragg intends to pursue further charges against Trump or other individuals involved in the scheme.
READ THE FULL INDICTMENT & THE STATEMENT OF FACTS:
Updated 10:01 IST, April 5th 2023