Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “BREAKING🔥 Alvin Bragg Vs Trump! Hush Money Trial🚨Warning! Bragg Says!”, On a New York Supreme Court indictment returned by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree former president Trump’s hush money trial. That’S after seven jurors were selected yesterday, including a teacher, a nurse and a software engineer, and then there was this dramatic moment that played out, as the judge warned Mr Trump, not to intimidate potential jurors under New York state law. It is a felony to falsify business records with intented a fraud 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, no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct. We have a trumping judge.
We have a judge who shouldn’t be on the case. He’S totally conflicted, but this is a trial that should never happen. The defendant repeatedly made false statements on New York business records. He also caused others to make false statements.
The defendant claimed that he was paying Michael Cohen for Legal Services performed in 2017. This simply was not true, and it was a false statement that the Fate made month after month in 2017 April May June, and so on through the rest of the year for nine straight months. The defendant held documents in his hand, containing this key lie that he was paying Michael Cohen for Legal Services performed in 2017, and he personally signed checks for payments to Michael Cohen, for each of these nine months.
In total, the grand jury found there were 34 documents. With this critical false statement. Why did Donald Trump repeatedly make these false statements? The evidence will show that he did so to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election Donald Trump Executives at the Publishing Company American Media, Incorporated Mr Cohen and others agreed in 2015 to a catch and kill scheme.
That is a scheme to buy and suppress negative information to help Mr Trump’s chance of winning the election as part of this scheme. Donald Trump and others made three payments to people who claim to have negative information about Mr Trump to make these payments they set up. Shell companies and they made yet more false statements, including, for example, in Ami American Media incorporated’s business records.
One of the three people that they paid to keep quiet was a woman named Stormy Daniels less than two weeks before the presidential election, Michael Cohen, wired $ 130,000. To stormmy Daniels lawyer that payment was to hide damaging information from the voting public. The participant scheme was illegal. The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means. The $ 130,000 wire payment exceeded the federal campaign contribution cap and the false statements in Ami’s books violated New York law. That is why Mr Trump made false statements about his payments to Mr Cohen. He cannot simply say that the payments were a reimbursement for Mr Cohen’s payments to Sandy, to Stormy Daniels, to do so to make that true statement would have been to admit a crime, so instead, Mr Trump said that he was paying Mr Cohen for fictitious legal services In 2017 to cover up actual crime committed the prior year and in order to get Michael Cohen, his money back, they planned one last false statement. In order to complete the scheme, they plan to mischaracterize the repayments to Mr Cohen, as income to the New York state tax authorities. The conduct I just described uh and that which was charged by the grand jury is felony criminal conduct in New York state.
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. My office, including The Talented prosecutors you saw at arraignment earlier today, has charged hundreds of felony falsifying business records this charge. It can be said as the bread and butter of our White Collar work and fraud presents itself in all different forms here in Manhattan. We have charged falsifying business records for those who violated Federal Bank secrecy laws. We have charged falsifying business records for those who were seeking to cover up sex crimes, and we have brought this charge for those who committed tax violations at its core.
This case today is one with allegations, like so many of our White Collar cases, allegations that someone lied again and again to protect their interests and avade the laws to which we are all held accountable, as this office has done time and time again, we today uphold Our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone stands equal before the law, no amount of money and no amount of power changes that enduring American principle. We conducted a thorough and rigorous investigation as we’re known to do at the Manhattan District’s attorney’s office. Uh. I’Ve been! U doing this for 24 years uh and I’m no stranger to rigorous complex investigations.
Uh I bring cases when they’re ready, uh having now conducted a rigorous, thorough investigation. The case was ready to be brought and it was brought all right. So let me let me say, as an initial matter, that the indictment doesn’t specify that because the law does not so require uh. In my remarks I mentioned a couple of laws which I will highlight uh again now: uh the the the first is New York state election law, which makes it a crime uh to conspire to promote a candidacy by unlawful means.
I further indicated a number of unlawful means, including more additional, false statements, including statements that were planned to be made to tax authorities. U, I also noted the federal election law cap on contrib contribution, uh limits, but why weren’t there those crimes charged charged with those FRS? Well, we we I’m not going to go into our deliverer process on what was brought. The charges that were brought were the ones that were brought. The evidence in the law.
Uh is is the basis for those decisions. I’M I’m not going to go chapter and verse into um any thinking. What I will say is, I believe, the time period you’re talking about I’ve been in office uh for a couple of months. Uh. The uh investigation, in my view, was not concluded into the conduct. Uh, in particular that that is the basis for the charges today, uh, since that time, we’ve had more evidence, uh made available to the office and opportunity to meet with additional Witnesses, uh so uh. As I said earlier, I’ve been doing this for 24 years uh. I don’t bring cases prior to athor on rigus Investigation now, having done so, the case has been brought.
Mr Brad Garrett H with NBC News uh. Your predecessor took a hard look at this case and decided not to charge it Federal prosecutors took a hard look at this case and decided not to charge it. Do you believe you have new evidence that led you to decide to charge this or why now? Well, as I, as I just mentioned, we have uh had available to the office additional evidence, uh that was not in the office’s possession prior to my time here, uh and as to uh. Your part of your question about the the federal we have a distinct and strong, I would say profound, independent interest in New York State.
This is the business capital of the world uh we regularly uh do cases involving false business statements, uh the the the the bedrock, in fact, the basis for uh business integrity and a well-functioning business Marketplace is true and accurate. Recordkeeping that’s the charge. That’S brought here falsifying New York State business records. The the the charge is falsifying business records uh the charge requires, as I as I uh specified, uh CRI Criminal conduct. That was concealed uh one of the concealed crimes. We alleg is New York state election law uh.
I went through and our statement of facts. I think many of you have in front of you. Um, you know, goes through um things, including um. You know, text messages, emails, contemporaneous, phone records, multiple Witnesses, all of that uh will be, as you saw in the fall uh borne out in a public courtroom uh in downtown Manhattan.
It’S it’s a I’m glad. You put your your finger on that because it’s not just about one payment uh, it is 34 business records, uh 34 false statements and business records that were concealing criminal conduct, um and uh. The earlier question about New York state election law when they talked about conspiracy, uh, to to promote a candidacy by unlawful means, those unlawful means. We allege include uh the conduct uh. You know set forth uh in the statement of facts, which is you know, additional false statements, separate apart from the charg ones in Ami uh documents planned false statements to tasking authorities um it’s.
It is not just uh that one one $ 130,000 wire payment thanks. So much .