New York State is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. With almost 19.6 million residents. It is the fourth-most populous state in the United States and seventh-most densely populated as of 2023. New York State's largest city New York City is the most populous city in the United States.
New York taxes its citizens, corporations, and companies to support the public infrastructure they enjoy. It relies on the honesty of those citizens, corporations, and companies in preparing and filing accurate tax returns so each person or company pays their fair share of taxes.
People or companies that lie and prepare inaccurate business records and false information on their financial statements and tax returns are cheating and stealing money from the public funds from all the other citizens and companies and reducing the benefits provided to them by the state and city of New York
Prosecutors say the Trump Organization paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels to stop her from speaking to the National Enquirer. They also allege that the Trump campaign paid $150,000 to Karen McDougal to prevent her from selling her story to the National Enquirer.
Trump is facing 34 felony counts (criminal charges) relating to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The 34 felony charges include the following:
- 11 counts relating to payments made to Michael Cohen
- 11 counts relating to payments for Cohen’s services
- 12 counts relating to falsification of business records
According to prosecutors, the Trump Organization paid Cohen a sum significantly exceeding his original expenses and services as legal counsel. In 2018, Cohen stated that he received a total of $420,000 over several months. The Trump Organization recorded these payments as legal expenses.
In New York, charges of falsifying business records amount to a “class E felony”, which is punishable by up to four years in prison.
About the Criminal Case
The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump is a pending criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. On March 30, 2023, Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for his alleged role in a scandal relating to hush money payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, making him the first U.S. president to be indicted. Trump faces 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the first degree, carrying a maximum sentence of 136 years if Trump is convicted on all counts
In early February 2024, Trump's federal election obstruction trial, originally set for early March, was postponed pending appeals, increasing the likelihood of the Manhattan criminal trial taking place as planned on March 25, 2024.
On March 11, 2024, Trump's lawyers requested a delay of trial until after the federal election obstruction case on the basis that it would bolster his argument of presidential immunity, as some evidence and allegedly some acts overlapped with his time in office. Also on March 11, Trump asked to delay the trial until after the Supreme Court decides whether he is generally immune from prosecution in the federal charges of election obstruction.
On March 18, Trump's team requested an additional delay on the basis that pretrial publicity and apparent anti-Trump bias in Manhattan would prohibit a fair jury from being selected in April, although only 35% in the cited poll said they were convinced Trump was guilty in the DA's case specifically.
On May 23, 2023, Justice Merchan set the trial for March 25, 2024. Trump's team complained that he expected to have multiple trials around that time.
On March 14, 2024, it was reported that in the last ten days, the district U.S. attorney’s office (USAO) had provided prosecutors with over 100,000 pages of previously undisclosed documents, largely related to the 2017 federal probe of Cohen's payment to Daniels. Trump's lawyers asserted that this was part of a large-scale effort by the DA to suppress evidence that would undermine its case, and requested that the trial be delayed by 90 days.
On April 8, Trump requested to postpone the trial so the court could consider a change of venue, which was denied the same day, and so he could appeal the gag order, which was denied the next day. On April 10, the appeals court denied Trump's request to postpone the trial based on Merchan being unqualified. On April 12, Merchan denied the defendant's request to delay trial based on "prejudicial" media coverage.
Gag Orders
In a May 2023 hearing and court filing, prosecutors expressed concern that Trump would misuse evidence obtained through the pretrial discovery procedure to attack people involved in the case, including witnesses. Justice Merchan declined to issue a gag order or prohibit Trump from publicly commenting about the case against him, but issued a protective order setting rules for the use of social media involving elements of the case, and set a hearing (with Trump to appear remotely) to explain the rules.
On February 26, 2024, the Manhattan DA asked for a gag order on Trump. On March 26, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump, restricting what he could say publicly about people involved in the case.
On March 7, 2024, Merchan ruled that the jury would be anonymous except for some involved in the trial, including Trump, his lawyers, and prosecutors. Merchan was expected to rule on prosecutor requests for a warning to Trump that he would lose access to juror information if he publicly disclosed those details, and for a gag order preventing him from making statements about people involved in the case (especially jurors and witnesses).[
On March 26, 2024, in a post on his Truth Social website, Trump attacked both Justice Merchan and his daughter. That day, Merchan imposed a gag order forbidding Trump to publicly comment on court staff, prosecutors, prospective jurors, or their families, or to cause others to make such statements, in a way that interferes with the case.
On March 27 and 28, Trump again referenced Merchan's daughter on social media. On March 29, Bragg asked Merchan to broaden the gag order so it would protect Bragg and Merchan's families, On April 1, Merchan did so, writing that Trump's continued attacks posed a "very real" threat to the integrity of proceedings and could cause those involved in the case to fear for themselves and their families, which would "undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself." On April 11, Trump disparaged two expected witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels, on social media, testing the limits of the April 1 order.
The trial is set to begin on April 15, 2024. On April 8, the judge gave attorneys a copy of the jury selection questionnaire.
Jury selection is expected to begin on April 15, from a pool of over 500 candidates.
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