Trump's Legal Woes: New York Laws Broken

Former US President Donald Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York in March 2023. The charges were related to hush money payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to buy her silence over an alleged sexual encounter between them. Trump was convicted on all counts in May 2024, becoming the first US president to be convicted of a felony.

Falsifying business records

In the United States, falsifying business records is a serious crime. In the state of New York, it is typically considered a misdemeanour, but can be upgraded to a felony if the act is done to further another crime.

In the case of former US President Donald Trump, he was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. This was in relation to his attempts to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels as hush money to buy her silence over a sexual encounter between them. The payments totalled $420,000, including costs related to the transaction.

The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, accused Trump of falsifying these business records with the intent to commit other crimes: violation of federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influencing the 2016 US presidential election, and tax fraud.

Trump was convicted on all 34 counts on May 30, 2024, becoming the first US president to be convicted of a felony.

Violation of federal campaign finance limits

In 2016, Donald Trump was a candidate for the US presidency. During his campaign, he arranged for hush-money payments to two former mistresses: Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. These payments were intended to buy their silence about extramarital affairs and to prevent damage to his political campaign.

In April 2023, Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. These charges were related to the false invoices that his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, submitted, with Trump's approval, to the Trump Organization for reimbursement for the hush-money payments.

The Federal Election Campaign Act requires candidates for federal office to disclose how much money they are spending on their campaigns and what the money is being spent on. As the hush-money payments were intended to influence the election, Trump was legally required to disclose the expenses. However, he failed to do so, violating the Act.

Moreover, Trump took further steps to conceal the payments. Working with Cohen and executives at the Trump Organization, he arranged schemes to hide the payments. For the payments to Stormy Daniels, Cohen fronted the money and then issued fake legal invoices to the Trump Organization, which paid them as if they were legal bills. For the payments to McDougal, Cohen arranged for American Media Inc. (AMI), a corporation that owns the *National Enquirer*, to pay off McDougal and then not publish her story.

These actions constitute a violation of federal campaign finance limits, as Trump went beyond simply failing to disclose the payments and actively worked to conceal them.

Unlawfully influencing the 2016 US presidential election

The criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th President of the United States, includes charges of unlawfully influencing the 2016 US presidential election. The Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, accused Trump of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels. These payments, totalling $420,000, were allegedly made to buy her silence over a sexual encounter between the two.

Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, in violation of New York Penal Law §175.10. Each count is related to a specific business document, dated between February 14 and December 5, 2017. These documents include 11 invoices from Michael Cohen, 9 general ledger entries for Donald J. Trump, 9 checks from Donald J. Trump, 3 general ledger entries for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and 2 checks from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.

The prosecution accused Trump, Cohen, and Pecker of campaign finance violations, alleging they coordinated payments to two women and concealed them as part of a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election. The defence argued that the testimony of Cohen, a convicted felon, could not be trusted, and that the payments were ordinary business transactions. They also argued that it is normal for candidates to attempt to influence an election in a democracy.

Trump's intent to influence the 2016 election may have been linked to potential collusion with Russian officials. Investigations by the FBI, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the House Intelligence Committee found that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 US elections. A joint US intelligence community review ordered by President Barack Obama concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign to undermine public faith in American democracy, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and boost the candidacy of Donald Trump.

Tax fraud

In 2022, the Trump Organization was convicted of tax fraud and fined $1.6 million in an unrelated criminal case for helping executives dodge taxes on extravagant perks such as Manhattan apartments and luxury cars.

In 2023, the Manhattan District Attorney's office indicted Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels as hush money to buy her silence over a sexual encounter between them; with costs related to the transaction included, the payments totaled $420,000. The indictment also included intent to commit other crimes: violation of federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and tax fraud.

In 2024, a New York judge ordered Trump and his companies to pay $355 million in penalties, finding that they engaged in a years-long scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated his wealth. The judge barred Trump from serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation for three years or from getting a loan from banks registered in his native state.

Conspiracy to falsify business records

In New York, falsifying business records in the second degree is a class A misdemeanour, while falsifying business records in the first degree is a class E felony. The latter is what Donald Trump was charged with, in 34 counts, in the case of *The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump*.

To be charged with falsifying business records in the second degree, an individual must, "with [the] intent to defraud":

• Make or cause a false entry in the business records of an enterprise
• Alter, erase, obliterate, delete, remove or destroy a true entry in the business records of an enterprise
• Omit to make a true entry in the business records of an enterprise in violation of a duty to do so, which he knows to be imposed upon him or her by law or by the nature of his or her position
• Prevent the making of a true entry or cause the omission thereof in the business records of an enterprise

For the crime to become one of the first degree, and a felony, the individual must commit the crime of falsifying business records in the second degree, and when his or her "intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof".

In the case of Trump, the Manhattan District Attorney accused him of falsifying business records with the intent to commit other crimes: violation of federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and tax fraud. The 34 counts of falsifying business records were in relation to a hush money payment to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels, with whom Trump had a sexual encounter in 2006. The payments were listed in the business records as a legal expense payable to Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, whereas the indictment alleges that they were actually to reimburse Cohen for the earlier, allegedly illicit, payment to Daniels.

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