Trump faces criminal charges in court after historic indictment

Manhattan prosecutors have placed Donald Trump at the center of an alleged "catch and kill" scheme to suppress negative stories about himself during his candidacy, according to the statement of facts supporting the former president's indictment.

In August 2015, shortly after announcing his candidacy for the presidency, Trump met at Trump Tower with his then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen and the CEO of the media company that owned the National Enquirer, prosecutors said.  

David Pecker is the former head of that company and testified recently before the Manhattan grand jury that voted to indict Trump. 

Pecker agreed to help Trump’s campaign and promised to act as the campaign’s “eyes and ears” by alerting Cohen to negative stories about the billionaire real-estate developer, prosecutors said.

Pecker, the statement of facts said, also agreed to publish negative stories about Trump’s political rivals. 

Former President Donald Trump hid reimbursement payments to Michael Cohen by marking monthly checks for “legal services,” according to the statement of facts, in a deal the two worked out in the Oval Office. 

“In early February 2017, the Defendant and Lawyer A met in the Oval Office at the White House and confirmed this repayment arrangement,” the statement of facts said referring to Cohen.

Trump personally signed checks reimbursing Cohen, his attorney at the time, for the hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels, the statement of facts said.

The payment included $130,000 for Daniels in exchange for her signature on a non-disclosure agreement. 

He also allegedly agreed to pay Cohen $35,000 monthly for one year, prosecutors allege.

The document also detailed how two of the payments were made from a trust set up in Trump’s name, but nine subsequent ones, “corresponding to the months of April through December of 2017, were paid by the Defendant personally.”

The payments stopped after December 2017, according to the document.  

Former President Donald Trump's plane took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport shortly after 4 p.m. ET, ending a whirlwind 24 hours culminating in Trump personally pleading not guilty to the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

Trump now heads back to his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, where he is expected to deliver remarks later tonight. 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference Tuesday that his office uncovered "additional evidence" that was not in their possession prior to his time as district attorney related to the case against former President Donald Trump.

Speaking about the timing of the charges — and his predecessor's decision not to bring charges against Trump in this case — Bragg said "I don't bring cases prior to a thorough and rigorous investigation."

"Now, having done so, the case has been brought," Bragg said.

"I've been doing this for 24 years, and I'm no stranger to rigorous complex investigations," the DA noted.

Bragg said that the state of New York in particular has a "profound interest" in cases involving false business statements because it is the "business capital of the world."

Participants in the alleged illegal hush-money scheme, including Michael Cohen, admitted payoffs to the two women were unlawful, according to the statement of facts released Tuesday.

In late 2018, American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Southern District of New York’s US Attorney’s office relating to paying Karen McDougal for her story about Trump, the statement of facts said. 

AMI told authorities they never intended to publish McDougal’s story and made the payment to McDougal so that she “did not publicize damaging allegations” about Donald Trump “before the 2016 presidential election and thereby influence that election,” according to the statement of facts. 

The document also cites Cohen’s federal guilty plea, which said Cohen worked at the direction of Trump to arrange payment for the two women, McDougal and Stormy Daniels, to stop stories that could be harmful to Trump. 

After winning the presidential election, Donald Trump privately thanked then-AMI CEO David Pecker for “handling” salacious stories that arose in the weeks before votes were cast, according to the statement of facts.

“Between Election Day and Inauguration Day, during the period of the Defendant’s transition to his role as President, the Defendant met with the AMI CEO privately in Trump Tower in Manhattan,” the statement of facts says, referring to Pecker.

Trump thanked Pecker for “handling” Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal’s affair allegations and a story from a former Trump World Tower doorman who claimed to have knowledge of an alleged affair between Trump and an ex-housekeeper which resulted in a child. He also invited Pecker to attend the 2017 inauguration.

In the summer of 2017, according to the statement of facts, Trump also invited Pecker to the White House for a dinner to “thank him for his help during the campaign.” 

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg spoke following former President Donald Trump's Tuesday arraignment.

"Under New York State law, it is a felony to falsify business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime. That is exactly what this case is about: 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. These are felony crimes in New York state," he said.  

Bragg added that the former president is being held to the same standard to anyone who has committed a white collar crime.

"True and accurate business records are important everywhere to be sure. They are all the more important in Manhattan — the financial center of the world. That is why we have a history in the Manhattan DA's office of vigorously enforcing white collar crime," Bragg said.

The DA's office has "charged hundreds of felony falsifying business records. This charge, can be said, is the bread and butter of our white collar work," he said.

Bragg added that Trump's case at its core, "is one with allegations like so many of our white collar cases," and that the former president is not above the law.

Earlier today, Trump pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree after hearing charges against him stemming from a hush money payment to an adult film actress in 2016.

Manhattan prosecutors say checks were cut monthly — including some coming directly from Donald Trump's bank account — to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. They allege these were disguised as attorney payments when they were not.

In a statement of facts supporting the indictment, prosecutors described a “catch and kill scheme” to suppress negative stories about Donald Trump – “in furtherance of his candidacy for President.” 

It also noted that two parties engaged in the scheme have already “admitted to committing illegal conduct in connection with the scheme.” Those parties are former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is described as “Lawyer A” in the statement of facts, and American Media Inc., the owner of the National Enquirer tabloid.

Specifically, the statement notes, that AMI had admitted that it made a payment to a source of a story to ensure the source “did not publicize damaging allegations” about Trump “before the 2016 election and thereby influence that election.”