donald trump He became the first president, past or incumbent, to face criminal charges when he was arraigned on Tuesday on 34 counts of allegedly unlawfully influencing the 2016 election through a series of silent payments.
Trump was accused of falsifying business documents for his alleged role in secret payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. The indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, details alleged wrongdoing in Trump’s “catch and kill” scheme over a two-year period. to prevent potentially damning information from getting in the way of the former president to the White House.
While Trump has strenuously denied any wrongdoing, the 76-year-old former president is expected to return to court in December for his next hearing. Assuming nothing is resolved by then, the trial could start in 2024.
Much has been said about the charges, with some wondering how strong Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case is and how winnable it may or may not be, but what about a possible punishment for Trump if found guilty?
The charges against you would normally be misdemeanors, lower level charges that would not normally result in jail time. But they were elevated to felonies because, Bragg says, they were committed for the purpose of committing or covering up other crimes.
David Rodríguez with the latest.
So since they are actually treated as crimes, would you risk jail time if found guilty? And if so, how much?
The answer to both is: not clear, yet.
Charges of falsifying business documents carry up to four years behind bars under New York State law. But it is not that simple.
That’s because it’s unclear whether Judge Juan Merchán would impose a jail sentence if Trump is found guilty. And perhaps most importantly, prosecutors have not said whether they plan to seek jail time if convicted.
Alfredo Acosta informs us.
What is clear, however, is that a conviction would not prevent Trump from running or winning the presidency in 2024.
Although prosecutors have expressed confidence in the case, a conviction is not a sure thing given the legal complexity of the charges, the application of state election laws to a federal election and prosecutors’ likely reliance on the respect to a key witness, former lawyer and fixer of Trump. Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to making false statements.
The case also involves the bribery of two women, Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sex with Trump years earlier, and a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he noted the president had out of wedlock.
“It’s not just a payment. These are 34 false statements and business records that conceal criminal conduct,” Bragg told reporters, when asked how the three separate cases were connected.
The 34 charges against Trump relate to a series of checks that were issued to Cohen reimbursing him for his role in paying Daniels. These payments, made over 12 months, were recorded in various internal company documents as a legal deposit that prosecutors said did not exist. Cohen testified before the jury and is expected to be a star prosecution witness.
Nine of those monthly checks were paid into Trump’s personal accounts, but records about them were kept in the Trump Organization’s data system.
The New York case is just one of Trump’s many legal concerns. Georgia prosecutors are also investigating attempts by Trump and his allies to reverse their 2020 election defeat in the state. And federal prosecutors are investigating whether the classified documents were mishandled at Trump’s Florida home, as well as efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the presidential election results.
AP writers Alanna Durkin Richer, Colleen Long and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report.