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Former United States President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Tuesday at court in Manhattan, New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump for covering up a sex scandal with adult actress Stormy Daniels and for paying her $130,000 to quiet their affair.
In a press release by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Bragg wrote, “the People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”
There is evidence that from August 2015 to December 2017, Trump orchestrated a “catch and kill” scheme to hide his false business entries, according to the press release.
The term “catch and kill” refers to people of power eliminating any harmful information from being reported through newspaper and media outlets, according to NPR.
The press release also stated the American Media Incorporation paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman, who claimed to know information about Trump having a child outside of his marriage.
There was another instance where the American Media Incorporation paid $150,000 to a woman who alleged to have a sexual relationship with Trump.
Trump told his lawyer, Michael Cohen at the time, to reimburse the media company in cash, but instead made the payment through a shell company.
A shell company is a corporation that is out of business that runs financial assets to disguise business ownership from law enforcement according to investopedia.
“AMI, which later admitted its conduct was unlawful in an agreement with federal prosecutors, made false entries in its business records concerning the true purpose of the $150,000 payment,” according to the press release.
In a third instance, 12 days before the presidential general election, there was a $130,000 wire to an attorney for an adult film actress.
“In total, 34 false entries were made in New York business records to conceal the initial covert $130,000 payment. Further, participants in the scheme took steps that mischaracterized, for tax purposes, the true nature of the reimbursements,” according to the press release.
Carlos Singh, a former federal prosecutor and current lecturer at San Jose State, has worked in justice studies for 20 years.
“Bottom line is he feared that if payments to individuals that allegedly he had sex with, for sexual relations with, would come out before the elections, that it would affect the election and he would not win,” Singh said regarding Trump’s court case.
He said the burden of proof in Trump’s criminal case is reasonable doubt.
“What the prosecution has to do is create enough evidence so it removes all reasonable doubt,” Singh said. “It’s not scientific certainty, but just legitimate reasons so the jury can then say you’re guilty versus not guilty.”
He said it is the first time in history that a former president is being charged with a crime.
“There’s going to be, obviously, a lot of publicity, we’re in the middle of beginning a national campaign for the presidency,” Singh said. “In the sense of the political campaign, he’s probably going to use it to garner support but it’s a wait and see game in terms of how the evidence plays out.”
Trump will have his next court case hearing on Dec. 4, 2023, months before the 2024 presidential primaries.
“As I understand, the defense has four months to the prosecution has to disclose what it’s called discovery,” Singh said. “In other words, all the evidence they have in order to prove the charges, and so they can disclose that so the defense has time to receive the charges and then file motions if they want.”
Hours after Trump’s trial, he addressed the nation on broadcast at Mar-a-Lago, a resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I never thought anything like this could happen in America, never thought it could happen,” Trump said in his opening statement. “The only crime I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”
Trump said the federal case was brought to interfere with the upcoming 2024 presidential election and it should be dropped immediately.
“We are now a failing nation, we are a nation in decline, now these are radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement, we can’t let that happen,” Trump said.
“This is a persecution, not an investigation,” Trump said.
Singh said he’s interested to see how Trump’s supporters react to the case.
“Say, in the next two or three months, how that is going to affect his supporters, it could very well be that they don’t care,” Singh said. “Then the question becomes is he probably would have 30 to 40% of the vote for the Republicans, and nowadays in our elections, it’s a fight to get the independent voter and every voter can make up their own mind.”