Donald Trump became the first former US president to face charges on Tuesday. The 76-year-old politician and businessman appeared in a Manhattan court, where the judge informed him of 34 charges against him related to a payment for the silence of a former porn actress with whom he allegedly had a relationship.
FOR SHOWING OFF | The payment itself wouldn't be illegal, but Trump allegedly recorded it as a business expense. In New York, falsifying business information is illegal.
«"The state of New York alleges that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up crimes that concealed potentially damaging information from voters during the 2016 presidential election," he said.
The whole case revolves around the payment of US$1,440,130,000 that Trump's then lawyer and right-hand man, Michael Cohen, made in 2016 to the lawyer of porn actress Stormy Daniels so that she would keep quiet about the alleged extramarital relationship she had had with Trump and not harm the presidential candidacy of the real estate mogul that was beginning to take off.
Paying money to buy someone's silence is not considered a crime in the United States. And in New York, falsifying company documents is only considered a minor offense, a misdemeanor. But it becomes a more serious crime if it is determined that there is evidence that it was committed to facilitate or cover up another crime.
In the USA, violating the spying law is extremely serious; anyone other than Trump would already be indicted and would have to appear before a grand jury, but because it involves a former president, it would create a monumental scandal.
The search warrant for the home of former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021), published this Friday, reveals that the former president took classified material home, which could have violated the Espionage Act, in addition to obstructing the work of the Justice system.
The case is rejected by former President Trump, who believes it is politically motivated and part of a "witch hunt" against him to curtail his presidential aspirations in the 2024 election.
Source: El País and BBC