Trump's Hush Money Case: Everything You Need to Know

Anas Yousuf June 20, 2024

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, was the first former President in American history to be charged with state and federal crimes. In 2023, Trump was issued four separate indictments. Here is a brief overview of each of the criminal cases.

On May 30, 2024, Trump was the first U.S. President to be convicted of a felon. He was found guilty of falsifying business records, specifically a payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels. She claimed to have had a romantic encounter with him during the final weeks of his 2016 presidential campaign. Since Trump hid this piece of news by making his personal attorney Michael Cohen send Daniels a $130,000 hush-money payment, a 12-person jury found Trump guilty in violation of New York law. Not only that, but recent news presented evidence that Cohen was also reimbursed for his actions.

Status
A Manhattan jury voted to indict Trump on March 30, 2023. Prosecutors unveiled 34 felony counts of violating a New York law, which was unsuccessfully pushed against by Trump’s legal team and Justice Juan Merchan denied their motion to dismiss. Not only that, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump in order to restrict public comments on the case’s witnesses, jurors, and others involved. Once the trial began, Trump violated the gag order 10 times and was fined $10,000. The judge also threatened jail time for additional times if he continued to go against the gag order. After six weeks, the jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts.

What are the Charges?
Normally, falsifying business records is seen as a misdemeanor. However, if the defendant falsified the records in order to conceal or commit a separate crime, then it becomes a felony. Trump was convicted of a felony as his attempt to falsify business records concealed a violation of New York election law that prohibits conspiring in order to promote a political candidate. The hush money that Daniels received, along with the reimbursement to Cohen, were deemed unlawful as it violated campaign finance laws.

Strengths of the Case

  • Notably, the strongest point is that Michael Cohen, Trump’s attorney who paid Daniels and was reimbursed by Trump, turned against the former President after a heated testimony. His testimonies were incredibly useful for the prosecution as he stated that Trump personally agreed with the hush money arrangement.
  • Another key point is the uncovering of more evidence related to the 2016 election. Prosecutors found different hush money payments made by Trump in this time period, making it more likely that this was a coordinated effort to help his campaign.

Weaknesses of the Case

  • The reimbursement to Daniels was portrayed as a private matter intended to protect Trump’s family and brand by his attorney, Todd Blanche. He stated that the former President only paid Cohen for legal services and had no other personal involvement.
  • Cohen’s background and credibility as a witness was also heavily argued in this case. He has previously been found guilty on five counts of tax evasion and one count of making false statements to financial institutions to name a few. Blanche used this to target Cohen’s history of lies and deceit.

While this case has made a lot of progress, it still has a ways to go. Trump’s legal time is sure to fight back against any and all charges, and even if Trump is convicted, it is unsure as to whether or not he will be forced to serve jail time as most first-time offenders only receive probation.

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