For the first time in history, a former American president could face criminal charges. As early as this month, Donald Trump could be prosecuted in a case relating to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels, the porn star. But the former president has maintained that he has not committed a crime while his legal team has argued that he was a target of extortion.
Alvin Bragg of the District Attorney’s office in Manhattan has not yet pressed charges and has not commented on the matter. But if Donald Trump is finally indicted, it could be an unprecedented incident in the history of America. There is a legal groundwork that at this moment seems far from an open-and-shut case.
Possible Charges That Donald Trump Could Face
On the face of it, the event is factually straightforward at this point. Stormy Daniel received $130,000 from Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer, and a fixer. Cohen maintains that he did this on the instruction of Donald Trump as Stormy was about to go public about the affair the pornographic film actress had with him back in 2006.
Donald Trump reimbursed Cohen when he was still the president. But he has all along denied any affair. The hush money payment would not constitute a crime in itself. But the case depends upon how Donald Trump documented the payment in the accounts of the Trump Organization.
The legal question is whether the documentation of the payment in the books of the Trump Organization violated the law. The former president has pushed back ahead of any possible indictment and has spoken of getting the country back. He said that the FBI, the DOJ, and the local prosecutors should all stop.
If a grand jury returns an indictment against Donald Trump, the defense team would be advised that their client, the defendant, should surrender and come in for fingerprinting and other processing at the DA’s office.
Fabricating business records is considered a crime under state laws in New York. Normally he could face charges of a misdemeanor. But if the defendant has created fake records with the intent to conceal or commit a separate crime, the charges could be elevated to a felony.
