Suspected of falsifying campaign expenses, the former president appeared before a New York judge on Tuesday in a historic hearing. If he pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts against him and was able to leave the court free, the publication of the indictment caused an earthquake in the American press. The document reveals his indictment relates to several payments, made to cover up three troublesome cases involving him, before the 2016 election.
Among these, of course, is the case of Stormy Daniels, this porn actress who accuses the billionaire of having tried to buy his silence about a supposed extramarital affair before his accession to the White House by paying him 130,000 dollars. .
But in addition to this first case, a doorman at Trump Tower, who claimed to have information about a hidden child, also allegedly received $30,000 to remain silent and a woman who posed as a former mistress also allegedly received $150,000. to be discreet. However, these three payments do not appear in the campaign expenses declared by the former president and this is what he is accused of.
A bad information hunting system
The indictment goes even further, exposing an alleged real “system” set up by Trump’s campaign team to suppress all negative information about him. This system is likely to have “influenced the result of the 2016 elections”, indicates the document, peeled by CNN.
David Pecker, former CEO of the media company that owns the magazine ‘National Enquirer’ reportedly promised to act as the campaign’s ‘eyes and ears’ by alerting Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to negative stories. It was his company that allegedly paid $30,000 to the doorman of Trump Tower, officially to acquire the exclusive rights to the story, unofficially to keep it secret, reports the American channel. After discovering the Gatekeeper’s revelations were false, members of Trump’s campaign team reportedly released him from the deal, but only after Donald Trump was elected.
“Under New York State law, falsifying business records with intent to defraud and with intent to conceal something is a felony. This is exactly what it is: 34 false statements made to conceal crimes, ”detailed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after the hearing. The former president’s trial could begin in January 2024, the judge said.