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Explainer: What charges does Trump face in New York’s hush money case?

Criminal case against ex-president rests not just on his high-profile alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels but also on alleged separate liaison with a Playboy model

Former President Donald Trump photographed leaving the district attorney’s office on his way to the courtroom at Manhattan Criminal Court in Manhattan, April 4th, 2023. Photograph: Dave Sanders/The New York Times

Wed Apr 5 2023 - 07:40

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office on Tuesday unveiled charges against Donald Trump over hush money payments to suppress accounts of his alleged extramarital affairs, becoming the first former US president to face criminal charges. The criminal case against former the president rests not just on his high-profile alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels but also on an alleged separate liaison with Playboy model Karen McDougal.

What is Trump accused of doing?

Prosecutors led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records related to a “catch-and-kill” scheme to suppress negative news stories about him in advance of the 2016 election.

During the campaign, Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, paid porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 to for her silence on an affair she says she had with Trump.

Trump denies the allegations and the affairs but has admitted to reimbursing Cohen for his payment to Daniels. He has called Bragg's probe a politically motivated “witch hunt” and pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance Tuesday.

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Taken together, the charges carry a maximum of 136 years in prison under New York law, but any prison sentence following a guilty verdict would almost certainly be far less than that. Trump would almost certainly appeal any conviction.

[ Trump condemns ‘ridiculous’ case against him and hits out at judge and district attorney ]

Who are Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels?

A 52-year-old former model and actress from Indiana, McDougal was a Playboy magazine Playmate of the Year in the late 1990s.

She has said she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with her.

Karen McDougal, the former Playboy Playmate who says she had an affair with the president, speaking to CNN last year

American Media Inc (AMI), corporate parent of the National Enquirer, has acknowledged paying McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story to prevent her from going public with it in advance of the 2016 presidential election – a practice known in the publishing industry as “catch and kill.”

AMI admitted to the arrangement in a non-prosecution agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in 2018.

Prosecutors said in a charging document on Tuesday that Trump did not want the woman’s story to become public “because he was concerned about the effect it could have on his candidacy.”

They said Trump, his lawyer Michael Cohen and AMI former chief executive David Pecker, a long-time friend of Trump, agreed that Trump would reimburse AMI. But Pecker ultimately opted not to seek repayment after talking with a company lawyer.

The US Federal Election Commission ruled in 2021 that AMI’s payment to McDougal amounted to an illegal campaign contribution that benefited Trump, and fined its successor company $187,500.

The transaction is one of two involving alleged affairs that are at the heart of the criminal case against Trump.

The other involves porn star Stormy Daniels, who received $130,000 from Trump’s lawyer Cohen shortly before the 2016 election as well.

Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, photographed at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Photograph: Matt Sayles/AP

Daniels and Cohen both say the payment was to buy her silence about a 2006 affair with Trump.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal campaign-finance charges related to his payments to Daniels.

Trump has denied having had sexual relationships with either woman, but has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen.

What laws does that violate?

It is against New York state law to make a false entry in a company’s records. While falsification of business records on its own is a misdemeanour, meaning it is punishable by a sentence of less than one year, it is considered a felony punishable by up to four years in prison if it is done to conceal or further other crimes.

In this case, Bragg said those other crimes include alleged election law violations.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges of causing an unlawful campaign contribution and making an excessive campaign contribution tied to the scheme. The US Attorney’s office in Manhattan has not charged Trump, who it referred to in its charging document against Cohen as “Individual-1,” with any crime.

[ New York court has become a key stop on Donald Trump’s campaign trail ]

What could Trump’s defence be?

Trump may argue that Cohen acted on his own when paying Daniels. He may also argue that the purpose of silencing Daniels and McDougal was to spare him and his family the embarrassment of public attention to alleged extramarital affairs, not to help his campaign.

While Cohen testified in 2018 that Trump directed him to pay Daniels, Trump has repeatedly called Cohen a “liar” and could attempt to undermine Cohen’s credibility by pointing out that he has admitted to perjuring himself before Congress.

In an interview with Reuters in December 2018, Trump said the payment to Daniels “wasn’t a campaign contribution” and “there was no violation based on what we did.”

Joseph Tacopina, a lawyer for Trump, has argued in television interviews that Trump was a victim of extortion by Daniels. Trump has also said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the statute of limitations – generally five years in New York – has run out.

How could Bragg overcome those arguments?

While Cohen’s history of lies could provide fertile ground for Trump’s lawyers on cross-examination should he testify at an eventual trial, Cohen has already been sentenced and served time.

That could blunt any attempt by Trump to argue that Cohen is falsely implicating him to try to win a lenient sentence, a common argument criminal defendants make against co-operating witnesses.

Trump’s claim that Daniels was extorting him may not be relevant to the case because the charge focuses on his company’s false accounting of the payments as legal expenses.

The statute of limitations is unlikely to be an issue, as it does not count time a defendant spends living outside New York state. Trump lived in Washington, DC, while he was president and has lived in Florida since leaving office in 2021. – Reuters

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