The indictment was unsealed in a proceeding before Judge Juan Merchan in criminal court in Manhattan. Trump was flanked by his lawyers inside the courtroom as prosecutors outlined their case against him, alleging he made covert and illegal payments in order to impact the 2016 election. He faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted.
Asked for his plea, Trump answered, “Not guilty.”
Prosecutor Chris Conroy told the court that Trump engaged in an “illegal conspiracy” to aid his campaign and “undermine the election”
The statement of facts compiled by prosecutors in conjunction with the indictment said Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election.”
It outlined three individuals who received hush money payments: adult film star Stormy Daniels, Playboy model Karen McDougal and a former Trump Tower doorman who’d claimed to have a story about a child Trump had out of wedlock.
Daniels was paid $130,000 by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, while McDougal and the doorman were paid $150,000 and $30,000 respectively by AMI, the publishers of the National Enquirer.
Image: Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court on April 4, 2023, in New York.
Former President Donald Trump sits at the defense table with his defense team in a Manhattan court on Tuesday in New York.Seth Wenig / AP
The Enquirer later concluded that the doorman story was not true, and wanted to release the doorman from the agreement, but held off on doing so until after the election at the request of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, prosecutors said. The court filing said Trump thanked AMI CEO David Pecker for his help by inviting him to dinner at the White House in the summer of 2017.
The indictment said the falsified records Trump signed off on were all made in 2017, when he was president. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters the false statements were "made to cover up other crimes," including violations of New York election law and federal campaign finance limits.
The legal troubles, media spectacle and porn-star-hush-money salaciousness at the heart of the case are a new chapter for the New York tycoon-turned-TV-star-turned-politician, whose career has careened from scandal to success for four decades. This time, unlike his bankrupted casinos or failed marriages, many of Trump’s supporters and detractors argue that the fate of American democracy is hanging in the balance as the former president increasingly conflates any legal woes as an effort to illegitimately deny him a return to power.
Conroy also told the judge they were “very concerned” about Trump’s inflammatory social media posts about Bragg, other prosecutors and the judge, saying they could have an impact on potential effects on jurors and witnesses.
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