Anaya Nolan
Former US President Donald Trump has been accused of breaking finance laws. In April 2024, a watchdog group accused the Trump campaign of violating finance law. This was followed by a 16-page indictment in June 2024, which accused Trump of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws. Trump was also accused of violating tax laws by making false entries on tax returns.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Falsifying business records | Trump is accused of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws |
| Violating tax laws | Trump is accused of making false entries on tax returns related to the payment |
| Violating campaign finance laws | Trump is accused of concealing hush money payments by falsely labelling related transactions as legal expenses |
| Violating election laws | Trump is accused of hiding attempts to violate state and federal election laws |
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What You'll Learn
Violating campaign finance laws
Donald Trump has been accused of violating campaign finance laws. In 2018, Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, pleaded guilty to two federal campaign finance crimes. Cohen created a fake shell company to send a payment to Stormy Daniels in 2016, which constituted an illegal campaign contribution.
Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump concealed hush money payments by falsely labelling related transactions as legal expenses. They also claim that he arranged for a tabloid publisher to bottle up the story of a woman who said she had a sexual relationship with him. In doing so, the prosecutors say, Trump repeatedly violated a New York corporate record-keeping law and agreed to break campaign finance laws.
Trump has been accused of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws. This has set in motion the first criminal prosecution of a former president in American history.
Some jurors could think that campaign finance laws were broken, while others could think there were tax violations.
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Falsifying business records
Donald Trump has been accused of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws. Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump concealed hush money payments by falsely labelling related transactions as legal expenses and by arranging for a tabloid publisher to bottle up the story of a woman who said she had a sexual relationship with Trump.
In doing so, the prosecutors say, Trump repeatedly violated a New York corporate record-keeping law and agreed to break campaign finance laws. Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes in 2018, saying they constituted an illegal campaign contribution. Cohen created a fake shell company to send the Daniels payment in 2016, which could be considered a third crime of falsifying other business records or violating tax laws by making false entries on tax returns related to the payment.
Some jurors could think that campaign finance laws were broken, while others could think there were tax violations. The references to federal election violations are likely to be the focus of pre-trial motions from Trump's attorneys, who have argued that this state-law offence cannot be piggybacked on a federal-law crime.
The complaint also said that Red Curve advanced payments for the legal costs to the Trump committees as part of the payment scheme, potentially violating a campaign finance law that prevents corporations from giving money to candidates.
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Violating tax laws
Donald Trump has been accused of violating tax laws by making false entries on tax returns related to the payment of hush money. In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to two federal campaign finance crimes, and in 2024, a jury was deliberating whether Trump had also committed crimes. While all jurors must agree that Trump falsified business records to cover up an election crime, they can differ on the third crime, which could be falsifying other business records or violating tax laws.
Trump has also been accused of violating campaign finance laws by concealing hush money payments. Manhattan prosecutors allege that he falsely labelled related transactions as legal expenses and arranged for a tabloid publisher to bottle up the story of a woman who said she had a sexual relationship with him. This is said to have violated a New York corporate record-keeping law and agreed to break campaign finance laws.
In addition, a watchdog group has accused the Trump campaign of violating finance law by accepting advanced payments for legal costs from Red Curve, a corporation, which is illegal under federal campaign finance law.
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Violating election laws
Donald Trump has been accused of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws. Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump concealed hush money payments by falsely labelling related transactions as legal expenses.
In 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to two federal campaign finance crimes in conjunction with the payment. Cohen created a fake shell company to send the Daniels payment in 2016, which could be considered falsifying other business records.
Trump and others are also accused of violating state and federal election laws. The statement of facts says: "The defendant Donald J. 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."
Trump's attorneys have contended publicly that this state-law offence cannot be piggybacked on a federal-law crime. However, the references to federal election violations are virtually certain to be the focus of pre-trial motions.
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Violating corporate record-keeping laws
Donald Trump has been accused of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws. Manhattan prosecutors allege that Trump concealed hush money payments by falsely labelling related transactions as legal expenses and by arranging for a tabloid publisher to bottle up the story of a woman who said she had a sexual relationship with Trump. In doing so, the prosecutors say, Trump repeatedly violated a New York corporate record-keeping law and agreed to break campaign finance laws.
Trump's indictment states that he "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". It also mentions Cohen's guilty plea in 2018 to two federal campaign finance crimes.
The third crime could also be falsifying other business records, after Cohen created a fake shell company to send the Daniels payment in 2016, or violating tax laws by making false entries on tax returns related to the payment. While all the jurors must agree on the first and second crimes—that Trump falsified business records in order to cover up the election crime—for him to be convicted, they can differ on the third crime, or the “unlawful means” to influence an election. Some jurors could think campaign finance laws were broken and others could think there were tax violations, for instance.
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Frequently asked questions
Trump was accused of 34 felonies for allegedly falsifying business records in a bid to violate campaign finance laws.
Trump concealed hush money payments by falsely labelling related transactions as legal expenses and by arranging for a tabloid publisher to bottle up the story of a woman who said she had a sexual relationship with him.
Trump also violated a New York corporate record-keeping law and election laws.
