Argus Explains: The Trump Indictment

Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona during his 2016 campaign. Photo: Gage Skidmore

By ANDREW FLORES and AVIELLE KRENDEL-SMYSLOV

Mahnoor Hussain and Anaiya Simeon also contributed to this article.

A pandemic, an insurrection, the overturning of Roe v Wade’s abortion rights. With major events like these and more occurring over the last few years, many of us might want to say “enough!” when it comes to living through “historical events.” But Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg had other plans, indicting former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of fraud on March 30.

But what does an indictment mean? An indictment is an accusation saying there is enough evidence to take a case to court; it doesn't necessarily mean Trump is guilty.

The official charges are “Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, a class E felony.”

They are related to a $130,000 payment made in 2016 to an adult film star, Stormy Daniels, whom Trump allegedly had an affair with. The money was paid by Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, as “hush-money” after Daniels tried to sell her account of what happened to the media.

Paying off Daniels to stay quiet is not illegal. But Trump is being accused of faking business records by saying that the $130,000 he paid to Cohen was lawyer’s fees.

Midwood’s law teacher Mr. Pieter Chicofsky said, “Trump told the government that the money he gave, the $130,000, was a lawyer fee. He's then allowed to reduce his earned income by that amount to pay slightly less taxes. So essentially, he's giving himself a tax break for creating a lawyer fee. The thing New York State is saying is that there was no actual legal service provided.”

District Attorney Bragg claims that to repay Cohen, "Trump reimbursed the Special Counsel through a series of monthly checks, first from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust – created in New York to hold the Trump Organization's assets during Trump's presidency – and later from Trump's bank account."

Bragg said Trump made 34 false statements “to cover up [these] crimes.” “These are felony crimes in New York state no matter who you are,” he added.

Falsifying business records is usually prosecuted as a misdemeanor (a minor offense), but Bragg raised the charges to class-E felonies (the lowest level of “bigger” crimes) by arguing that Trump was trying "to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election." Since the fraud may have affected the election, it makes it more serious, Bragg says. Spending money to help a presidential campaign but not reporting it violates federal campaign finance law.

Cohen was also indicted and charged with campaign finance violations and perjury for lying under oath in front of Congress. Since leaving prison, he has been cooperating with Bragg.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts. He claims these charges are just a scheme by Democrats to get back at him and are only being brought against him because of his political status.

During a speech, Trump said, "I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family whose daughter works for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign."

The problem with this case is that “people have already determined Trump’s guilt or innocence before the trial has truly begun,” said Mr. Chicofsky. “Loyal Trump supporters will view him as an innocent man being persecuted for political gain while those who oppose Trump will view his actions as the work of a criminal mastermind.”

But “this case is extremely difficult,” he added. “All we’re doing until we see the full case is pretending that we know. But we don’t know until we see the evidence and the argument from both sides.”

If Trump is found not guilty, he will walk free. However, even if found guilty, it is unlikely that he will ever face prison time. Instead, it is far more likely that Trump will be fined. A loss could prove damaging to Trump's 2024 presidential run, though he can still run even if found guilty.

This lawsuit will probably play out for months, then be followed by appeals, no matter which side wins. Although many of us may be exhausted by these increasingly “historic” times, this lawsuit and the coming election seem likely to keep the trend going for now.