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Former US President Donald Trump has been indicted on 34 charges in a New York court in connection with the alleged payment to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. Not only that, 3 more criminal cases are chasing Trump.
The million-dollar question now is whether the lawsuits will hurt Trump’s political future as he looks to run for re-election.
What are the 34 charges against Trump in the porn actress case?
All 34 charges have been filed in relation to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, who accused Trump of having an affair in 2007 and was paid not to speak publicly about it.
The money was paid to Stormy Daniels by Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen shortly before the 2016 US presidential election. Court documents identify attorney Michael Cohen as Attorney A and Stormy Daniels as Woman-2.
The first lines of the statement of facts attached to the charge-sheet state the allegations of the prosecution. “During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump repeatedly falsely filed New York business documents to conceal information against him from the voting public,” it said.
Trump has been accused of wrongdoing as president
Prosecutors have questioned Trump’s return of money to attorney Michael Cohen, who paid actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump met with Cohen at the White House in 2017, 10 months after Trump became president. Over the next 10 months, prosecutors said checks were made to Cohen from Trump’s own bank account and through a trust that manages his assets.
All those checks are recorded as ‘Case Fee’. But Kohano says it was a move to return the money he gave to actress Starmi.
“The New York business documents misrepresented the Trump Company’s transaction records. In fact, there was no agreement to retain counsel. Attorney A was not paid for the 2017 legal action. Defendant Donald Trump falsified business records to conceal his and others’ criminal activities.” The government alleges that.
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How did the ‘petty case’ become a major crime?
Prosecutor Brock alleges that Trump hid the true purpose of his money transactions because of his support for crime. Although their payments to the actress were not legally wrongful, they argued that the concealment of the amount to aid the presidential campaign violated federal campaign finance laws.
Accusations against attorney Cohen have already been proven in the complaint that the actress concealed payments to Stormi. By paying Cohen back, Trump becomes complicit in the crime, which makes the misdemeanor of misrepresentation a serious crime, prosecutor Brock said.
But Trump’s lawyers are criticizing it as a legal bend and politically motivated.
“Similar Offenses”
Attorney General Bragg said Trump paid two more people to protect his image during the US presidential campaign. Bragg says the above two cases reinforce that Trump knew Cohen was paying the actress to avoid controversy that did not affect the presidential election.
“During the 2016 presidential election, the defendant sought out negative information that would affect his image and carried out a plan to prevent it from appearing in the media, thereby benefiting him in the presidential election.” The charge sheet says.
“All who participated in Trump’s illegal scheme not only violated election rules, but also caused numerous false filings in New York business filings,” it said.
One of the other 2 charges against Trump says the defense attorney said he knew Trump was paid $30,000 per child out of wedlock. Another mentions that $150,000 was paid to a woman who claimed to have had an affair with Trump. But Trump has denied having any such contacts.
image source, POOL
The prosecution says the payments came from David Becker, former editor of the tabloid magazine ‘National Enquirer’. The government alleges that David Becker worked hand-in-hand with Trump to hide these mistakes from the outside world. As a reward, the government contends, David Becker was invited to Trump’s inauguration.
In the US it is not a crime to settle out of court in such cases. But the manner in which Trump paid the money and the timing of it have now turned against him.
But, not only the case of porn actress Stormy Daniels, but 3 more cases are closing in on Trump. These 4 cases have the potential to have a huge impact on Trump’s personal life and politics.
Allegation of taking government documents to own estate
The U.S. Justice Department is closely monitoring allegations that Trump took government documents to his Florida estate when he left the presidency after losing the 2020 presidential election. How were those documents kept safe? Who accessed them? Officials are investigating.
Last August, the officers conducted a raid on the estate and seized around 11,000 documents. 100 of them are classified documents. Some were highly classified government documents.
What was in those documents is not public at this stage. This is because only documents whose sharing in public would be considered harmful to national security are kept classified.
The U.S. Justice Department believes that Trump violated the Espionage Act by carrying these documents that could harm U.S. national security.
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FBI Trump’s Estate Tested
Complaint against Trump in US Parliament violence case
In an attempt to stop the announcement of the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election, the US federal intelligence agencies are investigating whether Trump has a role in the violence of Trump supporters entering the US Parliament building on January 6, 2021.
It is remarkable that the US House Committee’s investigation into Trump’s activities lasted for about 18 months. Its live-televised hearings suggest that Trump’s allegations of election fraud directly fueled the violence.
After those hearings, the committee accused Trump of inciting sedition and other crimes.
The US Department of Justice is also conducting a separate secret investigation into the matter. This is the largest police investigation in US history. However, it is not yet clear whether its main target is Trump.
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Image taken on January 6, 2021 when Trump supporters entered the US Capitol
A case of trying to change the election result in the state of Georgia
He is accused of trying to change the outcome of the election in the state of Georgia, where Trump narrowly lost the 2020 presidential election.
He is being prosecuted for making public his hour-long phone conversation with the province’s chief electoral officer on January 2, 2021.
The panel that probed the allegations for about eight months was disbanded earlier this year after submitting its report. The report remains under seal.
Will there be a problem with Trump running in the 2024 presidential election?
In addition to the case of pornographic actress Stormy Daniels, a total of 4 criminal cases are pending against Trump, including the case of assault on parliament, the case of taking government documents, and the charge of trying to change the election results.
He also earned the notoriety of being the first US president to face criminal charges.
Even so, Trump’s bid to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 remains the same. More to the point, Trump preferred to be escorted by the police on his way to a New York court appearance in the Stormy Daniels case, according to reports there. By doing so, he is said to think that he will be able to win the support of the people in the next presidential election.
Because not only the current charges, but even the sentencing, will not stop Trump from continuing to campaign for the presidency.
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Whatever happens, Trump has signaled that he won’t back down. Hence, he is expected to continue the campaign.
US law prohibits a candidate who has been charged with a crime from campaigning, serving as president, or even being arrested.
In 1920, Eugene Debs contested the US presidential election while in prison and received 900,000 votes. So he can compete even if he gets a prison sentence.
However, if Trump is arrested, it will spell trouble for his presidential campaign. It would deepen the already stark divisions within the American political system.
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