Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images
Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in New Yorkk are preparing for the possibility that the former president donald trump be criminally charged next week in connection with a payment of money made to the porn star stormy daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, according to WNBC.
Discussions around tightening security at the Manhattan Criminal Court were also reported by NBC News, anticipating that former President Donald Trump may be impeached next week and the reactions this will bring.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation is into a particular issue involving Trump: a $130,000 payment that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, made to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, before the election. presidential of 2016.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, had told people years before that she had an affair with Trump, which he has long denied.
Cohen acknowledged making the payment and said he did so in the expectation of a refund: that refund was allegedly documented as payment for legal work.
Cohen later served prison time after pleading guilty in two criminal cases in 2018, including one involving campaign finance violations related to payments made to Daniels and another woman who alleged an affair with Trump.
During one of his guilty pleas, Cohen said he acted at Trump’s direction and described the payments as intended to influence the 2016 election. by preventing women from sharing their stories publicly.
The criminal investigation focuses on the Trump Organization’s classification of the payment to Cohen as a legal expense.
Such an alleged misstatement of a business expense is normally considered a misdemeanor under New York law, but it can be elevated to a felony if it is done to conceal an underlying crime.
If Trump is impeached, he would become the first former president of the United States to face criminal charges.
Many legal observers expect him to be prosecuted, based on the fact that a grand jury was formed in the first place and because prosecutors recently offered Trump the chance to testify.
More criminal investigations against Trump
Trump personally faces three other criminal investigations beyond the one related to Daniels, as recalled by CNBC.
A special federal prosecutor is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.
Special counsel Jack Smith is also investigating Trump for the removal of hundreds of government documents from the White House, many of them marked as classified, when Trump left office. He is also investigating possible obstruction of justice related to efforts by federal officials to recover them.
A state attorney in Georgia is separately investigating Trump for his attempt to get state officials to undo his 2020 election loss to Biden in that state.
With information from The Washington Post, CNBC and NBC News
Keep reading:
• Stormy Daniels talks to New York prosecutors about secret payments sent to her by Trump
• Pence says Donald Trump should decide whether to withdraw from the race if indicted
• Michael Cohen will testify Monday before a Manhattan grand jury in the Trump case