Donald J Trump has been charged by a New York grand jury with 34 felony counts in an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday after Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan courtroom.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office allege he had orchestrated a "catch and kill" scheme to suppress damaging information before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors say the scheme involved falsifying business records for his alleged role in $130,000 hush-money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels made through his then attorney Michael Cohen to conceal violations of New York State election law that prohibits promoting a candidate by unlawful means and federal election law that caps contribution limits.
Donald Trump, who has weathered two impeachment trials, a special counsel inquiry and decades of investigations, pleaded not guilty in the case, which has far-reaching political consequences and opens a perilous chapter in the long public life of the real estate mogul, reality TV star and former US president, who now faces the embarrassing prospect of a criminal trial.
And the charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg may be mere prelude to more serious charges.
Trump is at the center of at least three other significant criminal investigations. Atlanta-area prosecutors are examining Trump’s role in efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s Georgia victory in the 2020 presidential election. A special counsel appointed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland is investigating Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, as well as whether he unlawfully interfered with the certification of the 2020 election and the peaceful transfer of power.
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