WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump was arraigned on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday, an unprecedented court hearing for a former commander in chief.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, and his lawyers say they intend to file a motion seeking to dismiss the case outright before it can go to trial.
The investigation is scrutinizing six-figure payments made to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both say they had sexual encounters with the married Trump years before he got into politics. Trump denies having sexual liaisons with either woman and has denied any wrongdoing involving payments.
Felony charges vs. misdemeanors
All 34 charges against Trump were for falsifying business records in the first degree. A first-degree count of falsifying business records is considered a felony, and is considered more serious than a second-degree charge, which is a misdemeanor.
Felonies are more serious charges than misdemeanors, and typically have much higher punishments during sentencing. Felony sentences generally include at least a year of prison time, although it's unclear if Trump would serve time in jail if convicted.
Charges of felony business record fraud can carry a sentence of up to four years in prison upon conviction, according to the website of New York attorney Jeremy Saland, who is unrelated to the Trump case.
Even if Trump is convicted on any of the charges, it doesn't affect his eligibility for the presidency in 2024. A person can run for or serve as president if they meet the qualifications outlined in the Constitution, according to fact-checkers at VERIFY.
Article Two of the Constitution lists only three qualifications for the presidency:
- The candidate must be at least 35 years of age
- The candidate must be a natural born citizen
- The candidate must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.
There is no mention of criminal charges of any kind as disqualifying someone from running for or serving as president in the Constitution.
What's the case against Trump?
The indictment against Donald Trump is a 16-page document, laying out 34 charges that look remarkably similar.
All 34 counts are first degree charges of falsifying business records. The document lays out that between Feb. 14 and Dec. 5 of 2017, the defendant — in this case Trump — made a false entry into the business records of the Trump Organization.
The specific charge alleges that the false entry was made "with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof."
Trump was the president of the United States during the time when he allegedly falsified the business records, a fact that could complicate the legal case for prosecutors.
Judges have in the past ruled that a sitting president could not be charged with a crime, and it's unclear if that applies to Trump's private business dealings.
The matter is especially thorny because Trump bucked centuries of precedent and didn't divest himself from his sprawling organization while president, instead stepping back while family members ran the Trump Organization in his stead and often conducting official White House business at his Mar-a-Lago compound.
The indictment was not, as initially predicted, a "speaking indictment," that lays out the theory of the case prosecutors have built.
Many indictments, including Trump's indictment, are essentially a list of charges, without any details about the alleged crimes included. But a speaking indictment — an unofficial term often used in court reporting — allows prosecutors to explain how they determined each charge and what evidence they have to support them.
However, the DA's Office also released a 13-page statement of facts alongside the indictment, which laid out the case in more detail. That document alleges that the hush money payments were made in an effort to influence the 2016 election.
"From August 2015 to December 2017, (Trump) orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and benefit the Defendant’s electoral prospects," the document alleges.
In essence, the statement of facts confirms previous reporting about Trump's relationship with Daniels and with an attorney who went to prison for a related charge.
Before the 2016 election Trump ordered his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in return for her silence about an alleged affair she had with Trump. He ordered Cohen to make a similar payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal and a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know of a child Trump had out of wedlock, according to the document.
In 2017, after winning the election, Trump began paying Cohen back through payments for "legal services" he rendered to the former president. Those payments, made through the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, used money that belonged to the Trump Organization, prosecutors allege.
However, Cohen later pleaded guilty to making an illegal campaign contribution to Daniels as part of the fraud.
"Each check was processed by the Trump Organization, and each check was disguised as a payment for legal services rendered in a given month of 2017 pursuant to a retainer agreement," the statement of facts reads. "The payment records, kept and maintained by the Trump Organization, were false New York business records. In truth, there was no retainer agreement, and (Cohen) was not being paid for legal services rendered in 2017."
It's unclear when Trump will stand trial in the case. The next hearing in the case was set for Dec. 2023, with a tentative trial start date in Jan. 2024. But high-profile court cases often have multiple continuations and delays. And Trump himself is running for the presidency again in 2024, meaning that the case will likely bump up against primary season and possibly the general election headed to November 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.