Former president Donald Trump committed 34 felonies when he falsified business records related to hush-money payments made in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election to conceal affairs with two women, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The indictment, released after Trump’s court appearance, alleges that Trump “hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” and that he “orchestrated a scheme with others” to influence the election “by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication.”
The indictment appears to be referring to a $130,000 hush money payment Trump made to porn actress Stormy Daniels prior to the election, as well as a $150,000 payment made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. The indictment also notes a $30,000 payment made to a Trump Tower doorman who was trying to sell a story that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock.
Charges of falsifying business records can be prosecuted as misdemeanors, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg bumped all the charges to Class E felonies, the lowest level of felony under New York penal code. A conviction of a Class E felony of falsifying business records can result in up to four years in prison, though that appears unlikely in Trump’s case.
Trump is the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges.
Federal prosecutors and regulators with expertise in campaign-finance law who reviewed the hush-money case decided against charging Trump with a crime. But Bragg, a soft-on-crime progressive prosecutor who boasted about his previous efforts to investigate Trump and his family, vowed to take on the former president if he was elected.
At one point, after his election, the investigation into Trump’s actions appeared to be over. But after Bragg, a Democrat, was slammed by his progressive critics, he resurrected the case.
Many legal experts from across the political spectrum have suggested that Bragg’s case is weak, and that the case against Trump is being driven by politics.
Trump has painted himself as a victim of a “witch-hunt,” and suggested that Bragg “INDICT HIMSELF” for allegedly leaking information about the indictment to the media. On his social-media site, Truth Social, Trump has called on Bragg to “resign, NOW!”
Trump has also taken aim at New York judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, writing that he was “hand picked by Bragg,” and “HATES ME.”
While Bragg is charging Trump with 34 felonies, he only needs a jury to convict the former president on one. Bragg could be hoping for a deadlocked jury, looking to wrap up deliberations, to reach a compromise and convict Trump on at least one count.
Bragg is expected to address the charges during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Trump is slated to deliver his own remarks Tuesday evening at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Trump’s team believes the criminal case against him could help him raise money and give him a political boost with the Republican base. Recent polls have shown a bump for Trump.
A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll of Republican voters shows Trump with 57 percent support in a head-to-head matchup with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who had 31 percent support. Trump’s support increased by ten percent in less than two weeks.
A new St. Anselm College poll of the 2024 New Hampshire GOP primary shows Trump up in that state with 42 percent support, well ahead of DeSantis (29 percent), New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (14 percent), and Nikki Haley (4 percent).