falsifying business records in the first degree ), prosecutors would need to prove, in addition to the elements of the misdemeanor, that Trump’s “intent to defraud include an intent to commit another crime.” There are a number of candidate crimes-and we offer below an assessment of just some of the more likely options. If DA Bragg can prove that Trump signed those checks-and it appears he can-and that Trump knew the payment for hush money was being falsely recorded as “legal expenses,” then Trump committed a misdemeanor (or likely a number of misdemeanors, if each false entry is charged separately). Relevant to Trump is the statute’s prohibition of making “a false entry in the business records of an enterprise.” The evidence indicates he personally signed checks to Michael Cohen as reimbursement for the hush money payment. The misdemeanor requires proof of one of several potential acts. Falsifying Business Recordsįalsifying business records under New York law can be charged either as a misdemeanor or a felony. We also analyze Trump’s likely defenses, and conclude by addressing his inflammatory recent calls to action and what the DA will do next. To our knowledge, no in-depth review of these bases has yet been made publicly available, and so we walk through them here. In this next installment, we dive into a particular sticking point: the legal bases for elevating the misdemeanor business records violation to a possible felony. In the first essay in this series, as well as in some of the authors’ prior writing, we analyzed the applicable facts and law and predicted that charges were likely. Trump under New York state’s business records statute for concealing hush money payments that may have affected the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Bragg is apparently on the verge of charging Donald J.
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