Trump sues New York for hush money over porn star Stormy Daniels : NPR

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Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before his speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on March 4 in National Harbor, Md. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before his speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on March 4 in National Harbor, Md.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

A Manhattan grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump.

The charges, which are expected to be released in the coming days, make Trump the first former president in United States history to be criminally indicted. The grand jury indictment is expected to be unsealed in the coming days.

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan DA’s Office for arraignment in a Supreme Court lawsuit, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided once a date is selected. arraignment,” a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s. The office said in a statement Thursday evening.

A grand jury is probing hush-money payments Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made in 2016 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her not going public with allegations she had an affair to Trump.

Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, although he has admitted paying Cohen for the money he paid her.

The former president issued an angry response to the accusation, calling it political persecution.

“This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history,” he wrote in the statement. “Since I stepped down the golden escalator at Trump Tower, and even before I was sworn in as your President of the United States, the Radical Left Democrats – the enemy of the hard working men and women of this Country – have been engaged in a Witch-Hunt to destroy the Make America Great Again movement.”

With the charges looming, Trump encouraged his supporters earlier this month to stage large protests.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to multiple federal charges, including making illegal campaign contributions in the form of buying women’s silence about their alleged relationships with Trump.

In his plea, Cohen outlined the scheme: In the final month of the 2016 presidential campaign, he paid $130,000 to silence Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump.

Cohen got the money from a home equity line of credit. He arranged for Trump to pay next year.

The monthly checks, which totaled $420,000, were identified as a “retainer” payment for Cohen. Some came from the Trump trust, but others were signed by Trump himself, from what Cohen said was his personal account. Falsifying business records can be a felony under New York law, if it is committed in furtherance of another crime, such as a campaign finance violation. Cohen said he even discussed the checks with Trump inside the White House.

The roots of the criminal case date to 2018

Then-President Trump returned Michael Cohen in 2017 for funds that prosecutors say were used for hush money during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Cohen submitted to him this copy of a check, signed by Trump, when he testified before the House Oversight Committee in 2019. House Oversight Committee / Screenshot by NPR hide caption

toggle caption House Oversight Committee / Screenshot by NPR

Then-President Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen in 2017 for funds that prosecutors say were used for hush money during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Cohen submitted this copy of a check to him, signed by Trump, when he testified before the House Oversight Committee in 2019.

House Oversight Committee / NPR Screenshot

The investigation began under then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. in 2018 and quickly escalated into a sweeping investigation of Trump’s business practices. In 2019, Vance subpoenaed Trump for eight years of tax returns. Trump fought the request all the way to the Supreme Court, twice, but both times the high court sided with the DA, clearing the way for him to obtain the records in early 2021.

By the end of that year, Vance’s team was preparing an indictment of Trump built around possible misrepresentations to banks and tax authorities over several years about property assessments. But it shouldn’t be. In 2022, a new DA, Alvin Bragg Jr., was sworn in, and he soon decided not to plead guilty to an extensive fraud scheme.

The two lead prosecutors in the case quit. One wrote in his resignation letter, “a decision made in good faith may nevertheless be wrong. I believe that your decision not to prosecute Donald Trump now, and on the existing record, was wrong and completely contrary to public interest.”

Bragg insisted he did not drop the investigation into Trump

Bragg moved forward with charges of a more limited tax fraud conspiracy. He obtained judgments against Trump’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and two Trump corporate entities, for evading taxes by paying Weisselberg and others undeclared benefits such as a luxury apartment and cars. Checks signed by Trump were shown at trial, but the former president was never charged.

This year, Bragg began presenting witnesses to a grand jury, including Michael Cohen. Earlier this month, Trump himself was invited to testify – seen as a final step before an indictment. The former president called it “a political Witch-Hunt trying to take down the leading candidate, right now, in the Republican Party.”

Trump and his lawyers have continued to call the investigation “politically motivated,” and a “witch hunt.” They referred to Bragg, who is Black, as a “racist.”

What legal questions does the case involve?

Many legal experts say they think the criminal charges Bragg could potentially bring could be difficult to prove in court. While Cohen was convicted under federal law, New York state laws may not be applicable for the alleged crimes.

Trump’s actions run counter to New York law, according to Mark Pomerantz, a veteran prosecutor who helped lead the DA’s office investigation that began under Vance and later resigned.

“The money is not for legal services,” Pomerantz told NPR’s Fresh Air last month. “That’s how the payments were documented. So the reimbursement documentation involved creating false business records, which is a crime under New York law.”

A crime like this rises to the felony level, Pomerantz added, if the act is carried out to commit or conceal another crime.

In Cohen’s testimony to Congress in 2019, he said he and Trump discussed the payments at the White House, when Cohen visited the Oval Office a month into Trump’s presidency.

“He was showing me everything around and pointing out the different paintings,” Cohen said. “And he said something to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, Michael. Your reimbursement checks are coming in January and February. They’re FedExed from New York. And it’s going to take a while. before that gets through the White System of the house.’

“As he promised, I received the first reimbursement check for $70,000 not long after that,” Cohen said, referring to the payment made up of two monthly installments.

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