This trial focuses on allegations that Trump falsified his company records to hide the nature of secret payments, and is the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president and judge. The first of Trump's four indictments To go to trial. It also has some unique terminology.
Here are some examples:
bribe
identification: According to Merriam-Webster, money is paid to have someone keep information confidential. In other words, money a person pays someone to hide something.
Example: Three payments that prosecutors say were made on Trump's behalf to bury allegations of infidelity during his 2016 presidential campaign. They are the National Enquirer Payment of $30,000 To Trump Tower's doorman Payment of $150,000 For former Playboy model Karen McDougal, and $130,000 That Trump's then-lawyer Michael Cohen arranged a payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
The hush money payment is not illegal in and of itself, but authorities say the payments made to suppress stories about Trump amounted to illegal campaign contributions. Cohen He pleaded guilty in 2018 for federal campaign violations, among other unrelated crimes. American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, entered into a non-prosecution agreement in exchange for its cooperation with prosecutors. The Federal Election Commission fined the company $187,500, declaring that McDougall's deal was a “prohibited in-kind contribution from the company.”
“Catch and kill”
identification: As prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors in his opening statement, “catch and kill” occurs when a tabloid like the National Enquirer “purchases damaging information about someone, and asks the source to sign a nondisclosure agreement to prevent them from taking that information.” information or that story elsewhere, and then the newspaper refuses to publish the story to prevent it from ever seeing the light of day. A non-disclosure agreement is also known as a confidentiality agreement.
Example: Tabloids typically pay sources and subjects of a story for the information they end up publishing. But sometimes they are Pay for stories to prevent publication. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that he agreed, at a meeting in Trump Tower in August 2015, to be the “eyes and ears” of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Under that arrangement, Pecker said he would inform Cohen of women seeking to sell stories about Trump so that Trump's team can “take them off the market or kill them in some way.”
Baker testified that he covered up stories on other celebrities and politicians over the years using the same “catch and kill” methods, including actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and golfer Tiger Woods. Baker said he sometimes hid stories simply to help a friend or advance his own business interests, but more often he did so to leverage the subject of the story into doing something else, such as agreeing to an interview or appearing on the cover of a magazine.
Falsifying business records
identification: This is the criminal charge that will be decided in Trump's trial in New York. He is charged with 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. It is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, although there is no guarantee that Trump will ever be sentenced if convicted. He pleaded not guilty.
Under New York law, a person is guilty of falsification of business records in the first degree when he or she makes or causes a false entry to be made in a company's business records, and does so with the intent to defraud, including the intent to commit or conceal another crime.
Example: Prosecutors allege that Trump misrepresented the payments to Cohen in Trump's company records as legal fees when they were actually compensation for the $130,000 that Cohen arranged to pay Daniels. The records involved include general ledger entries, invoices, and checks. Prosecutors say Trump's actions were a way to hide the secret money scheme and hide other crimes stemming from it, including alleged election law violations. Trump denies these accusations. His lawyers said the payments to Cohen were for legitimate legal expenses.
Conspiracy
identification: Trump is not charged with conspiracy, but prosecutors at his trial in New York repeatedly used that term to describe the “eyes and ears” agreement with Baker and the secret money arrangements that followed.
According to Merriam-Webster, conspiracy involves joining “a secret agreement to do an illegal or wrongful act or an act that becomes unlawful as a result of the secret agreement.” Under New York law, a conspiracy involves at least two people acting with the intent to commit a crime.
Example: Attorney General Colangelo said in his opening statement that Trump's prosecution involves an “unlawful conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the presidential election.” To convict Trump of felony falsifying business records, prosecutors must prove he intended to commit another crime. Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said in court that one of the crimes Trump intended to commit was violating New York's election law — a misdemeanor involving a conspiracy to promote or prevent an election.
Interference in elections
identification: Any attempt to change the outcome of an election through nefarious means, such as fraud, voter intimidation, or efforts to overturn the outcome of a race.
Example: Prosecutors allege the silent money scheme amounts to election interference because it involves a concerted effort to hide important information from voters in order to boost Trump's chances in the 2016 race.
Not only did the National Enquirer serve as the Trump campaign's “eyes and ears,” identifying negative stories so they could be suppressed, Baker testified that the tabloid, at Cohen's request, published stories that smeared Trump's opponents. It also published stories that boosted Trump's image.
It's a different kind of election interference claim than what Trump was accused of Washington to him And Georgia casesHe was accused of trying to sabotage his loss in the 2020 elections to Democrat Joe Biden. Meanwhile, Trump claims that his impeachment while campaigning as this year's presumptive Republican nominee is a form of election interference.
Mask order
identification: In general, a gag order is “a court ruling that prevents the public disclosure or discussion (as in the press) of information related to a case,” according to Merriam-Webster. In Trump's case, the order is known as an order restraining extrajudicial statements, with extrajudicial meaning outside of court.
Example: Judge Juan M. imposed Merchan, at the request of prosecutors, A Limited mask order Trump Day is March 26. The former president is prohibited from doing so Making or directing other people to make public statements On his behalf of potential witnesses regarding their participation in the case. It also prohibits comments about jurors, prosecutors other than Prosecutor Alvin Bragg, and any statements intended to interfere with or harass court personnel, the prosecution team, or their families.
Merchan expanded the order on April 1, prohibiting Trump from commenting on his family or Bragg's family. This change came after Trump attacked the judge's daughter and made false claims about her on social media.
Last Tuesday, Trump was rated a Fine: $9,000 – $1,000 for each of the nine separate violations of the gag order identified by the judge. Prosecutors later asked for an additional penalty of $4,000 for what they said were additional violations of the order.
Merchan lamented that $1,000 per violation is the maximum fine allowed by law, and raised the possibility of Trump being imprisoned if he continues to violate the gag order, an unprecedented outcome for a former US president.
Trump's lawyers insist that he needs leeway to respond to criticism, including from witnesses like Cohen and Daniels, and that the gag order hampers his ability to answer questions and defend himself amid growing media coverage of his case and candidacy.
