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Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records at his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon, April 4.
The 76-year-old Trump, who was twice impeached as president, surrendered just before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday’s arraignment came more than a week after a grand jury voted to indict Trump following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office.
The case centers around a $130,000 hush money payment that Trump allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels to conceal an affair as well as alleged "catch-and-kill" payments involving the former publisher of the National Enquirer on Trump's behalf.
According to the unsealed indictment, Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”
Between August 2015 and December 2017, Trump orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress it to “benefit the defendant’s electoral prospects,” prosecutors allege.
As part of that scheme, Trump directed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to wire the $130,000 to Daniels’ lawyer shortly before the election “to prevent her from publicizing a sexual encounter with the defendant,” according to prosecutors. Cohen reportedly paid through a shell corporation he set up and funded through a bank in Manhattan.
According to investigators, Trump later reimbursed Cohen for the illegal payment through a series of monthly checks that were processed by the Trump Organization and disguised as payments for legal services.
“In truth, there was no retainer agreement, and (Cohen) was not being paid for legal services rendered in 2017,” the indictment says. “The Defendant caused his entities’ business records to be falsified to disguise his and others’ criminal conduct.”
Cohen pleaded guilty to making an illegal campaign contribution and was sentenced to three years in federal prison in December 2018.
Daniels has claimed that she slept with Trump in 2006, while he was married to his current wife and former first lady, Melania Trump. Mr. Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels, and has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
According to prosecutors, in August 2018 the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media, Inc. (AMI), admitted in a non-prosecution agreement that it had made a payment to a source of a story to ensure that the source did not publicize “damaging allegations” about Trump ahead of the 2016 election. At the time, AMI was helmed by CEO David Pecker, then a close friend of Trump.
Pecker had a history of “catching and killing” negative stories about Trump, according to prosecutors, including allegedly paying a former Trump Tower doorman $30,000 in October 2015 for exclusive rights after learning he planned to sell information about a child that Trump had allegedly fathered out of wedlock.
AMI “falsely characterized this payment in AMI’s books and records, including in its general ledger,” reads the indictment.
“When AMI later concluded that the story was not true, the AMI CEO wanted to release the Doorman from the agreement. However (Cohen) instructed the AMI CEO not to release the Doorman until after the presidential election, and the AMI CEO complied with that instruction because of his agreement with (Trump) and (Cohen)."
In New York, a felony conviction for falsifying business records carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
At Tuesday's press conference, Bragg said “we cannot and will not normalize serious, criminal conduct.”
“That is exactly what this case is about: 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes,” Bragg said. “These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are.”
Trump departed the courthouse at around 3:30 p.m. bound for his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
He addressed the allegations in a post on Truth Social Tuesday evening, saying, "The hearing was shocking to many in that they had no 'surprises,' and therefore, no case. Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here. There was nothing done illegally!"
Trump said he would address the case in a speech at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday night.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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