Former US President Donald Trump has pled not guilty to 34 felony criminal charges during a court hearing in New York Trump was accused of falsifying records to conceal crimes in the almost hour-long hearing The charges focus on a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election — she claims to have had an affair with Trump, which he denies But the indictment also details other such pay-offs to suppress potentially damaging stories, one involving a doorman and another to a former Playboy model Trump has been indicted on 34 counts of falsification of business records, making him the first former president in US history to face the prospect of a criminal trial. These are felony charges, which denote serious crimes — ones that could include prison time if a maximum sentence was given. The charges all arise from Trump's alleged reimbursement over the course of 11 months of "Lawyer A" for a $130,000 payment to "Woman 2", who was shopping a story about an alleged affair she had with Trump in the days before the 2016 presidential election. Although not identified, the facts would indicate that Lawyer A is former president's lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, while Woman 2 is adult film star Stormy Daniels. The indictment alleges that Trump falsified check records and ledger entries to make it appear that those payments were for "legal fees" and not reimbursements. It also alleges that the total amount provided to Lawyer A was in excess of the amount he paid Woman 2 in order to compensate for income-tax payments. The charge of business record falsification is typically a lesser crime — a misdemeanor — but in this case the district attorney's office elevated the charges to a more serious felony level because, it said, Trump intended to cover up the felony federal campaign finance crime to which Lawyer A pleaded guilty in August 2018. The indictment's Statement of Facts provides further background information about what it called Trump's "unlawful scheme" to prevent damaging information from being revealed about him in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. It provided two other instances of payments made on Trump's behalf, by the National Enquirer tabloid newspaper to a doorman who alleged he knew of an illegitimate child Trump fathered and to Woman 1, who evidence suggests is Playboy model Karen McDougal. "Ultimately," the statement reads, "other participants in the scheme admitted that the payoffs were unlawful." Neither of these instances led to criminal charges against Trump, however. The indictment is solely targeted toward the hush-money payment to Woman 2. Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg , in his news conference, defended his case against Trump. He reiterated several times that accurate business records were important, and "all the more important in Manhattan — the financial center of the world". He said that was why the Manhattan DA's office had a history of "vigorously enforcing white collar crime", which is how he also repeatedly characterized the allegations against Trump and Cohen. Trump's charges were the "bread and butter" of the DA's office's work, Bragg added. He insisted it was a "thorough and rigorous" investigation and pointed to his 24 years of experience. Defending the timing, he said the case was brought now because it was ready to be brought. Speaking to reporters outside the court, Trump's attorney Todd Blanche said the judge requested everyone involved in the case to not use language that would incite violence — not just Trump. Joe Tacopina, another one of Trump's lawyers, said the unsealing of the indictment showed "that the rule of law died in this country". "While everyone is not above the law, no one is below it either. And if this man's name was not Donald J Trump, there is no scenario we'd all be here today," he added. They declined to comment on whether Trump was fingerprinted or had a mugshot taken when being processed. One-time Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, now a US senator, began his statement by noting he believes the former president is unfit for office. But Romney, the frequent critic of Trump, said the charges against Trump are "stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda". In his statement, he said: "The prosecutor's overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public's faith in our justice system". He added that voters will make their own judgement on Trump's political future, but that it's "incumbent on all elected leaders to discourage violence and anger in response to this situation". Trump later boarded his private plane at New York's La Guardia airport on his way back to his home in Florida. — BBC
