Official statement from the Manhattan Attorney General: 34 criminal charges against Trump

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has announced an indictment against former US President Donald Trump relating to falsifying business records in New York in order to hide harmful information and illegal activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.

The statement says that Trump and others used the "catch and kill" scheme to locate, buy and bury negative information about him and enhance his electoral prospects. Federal and state elections.

He added, "Trump has been charged in an indictment issued by the New York State Supreme Court with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree."

"New York State citizens allege that Donald Trump repeatedly falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid harmful information from the electorate during the 2016 presidential election," the district attorney said. "Manhattan is home to the nation's most important business market, and New York companies cannot be allowed to manipulate their records to cover up criminal behavior."

According to court documents and statements filed in court from August 2015 to December 2017, Trump orchestrated his scheme through a series of payments that he then hid over several months.

"In one case, American Media Inc. ("AMI") paid $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about Trump's child out of wedlock," the statement reads.

In a second case, the statement says, “AMI paid $150,000 to a woman who alleged she had a sexual relationship with Trump.” Not cash. However, AMI refused to accept direct cash payments after consulting the company's legal counsel, which later admitted its conduct was illegal in an agreement with federal prosecutors."

The statement mentions a third case, which is that “12 days before the general presidential election, Trump’s special counsel transferred $130,000 to a porn actress’s lawyer, who then pleaded guilty and served time in prison for contributing to an illegal campaign, as he made the payment through Shell company funded through a bank in Manhattan."

The Attorney General's statement also stated that Trump, after winning the election, made payments to the Special Counsel through a series of monthly checks from the Trump Fund, in which 11 checks were issued for a bogus purpose.

"Nine of those checks were signed by Trump."

Each check was processed by the Trump Organization and unlawfully concealed as payment for legal services rendered under a non-existent attorney-attorney agreement. In total, 34 bogus entries were made in New York business records to conceal the secret initial payment of $130,000. Furthermore Participants in the scheme took steps misconceived for tax purposes," according to the statement.