The case that Manhattan prosecutors have brought against former President Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying business records to disguise hush money payments related to the 2016 campaign presents novel legal questions that make the prosecution risky – but not impossible – legal experts say.
How Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has laid out his allegations against Trump has attracted skepticism among election law scholars and white-collar defense attorneys. But other experts stress that Bragg has a case that plausibly could end in a guilty verdict and that his legal theories are on solid, albeit untested, ground.
“There are some risks and complications, but I also think there’s a path to conviction,” said Cheryl Bader, a former federal prosecutor who now teaches criminal law and procedure at Fordham University School of Law.
More on the historic indictment of Donald Trump
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsification of business records, which on its face is a fairly clear-cut allegation. But Bragg has brought the charges – which by themselves, are misdemeanors – as felonies. That will require his team to show that the records were falsified with the intent to conceal or further another crime, yet Tuesday’s court papers provided only a little clarity on how Bragg intends to establish an underlying crime.
Prosecutors are not obligated to show their hand at this stage of the proceedings and there are minimal requirements for what an indictment must say. But given the monumental stakes…
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