A question has long hovered over Donald Trump’s Manhattan hush money case, where he’s charged with falsifying business records: What’s the other crime or crimes involved that make the charges against Trump a felony instead of a misdemeanor? Thanks to a recent filing from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team, we got some official detail on that.
For a brief refresher, recall that Trump pleaded not guilty last month at his state court arraignment on a 34-count indictment. All counts allege falsifying business records in connection with Trump’s reimbursement to his former fixer Michael Cohen, who paid porn actress Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair she had with Trump a decade earlier. (Trump has denied the sexual encounter.)
Prosecutors got some specifics down on paper for all to see, even if they’re playing their cards close to the vest.
Specifically, the charge against Trump is falsifying business records in the first degree, a low-level felony. Under the first degree statute, to make it a felony rather than a misdemeanor second degree charge, prosecutors need to show that the defendant falsified records “when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.” You might think that the indictment would specify the other crime allegedly at issue, but you’d be wrong.
Understandably, Trump’s legal team has asked for details. And in the new filing, dated Friday by Bragg’s team, prosecutors provided some detail. Prosecutors made clear they thought Trump wasn’t entitled to this information and that, in any event, they don’t have to prove intent to commit or conceal a particular other crime. Nonetheless, they wrote that “the crimes defendant intended to commit or to aid or conceal may include violations of” state tax and election law, federal election law, and falsifying business records (both the misdemeanor and felony variety). They…
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