Earlier this afternoon, Donald Trump was arraigned on a New York Supreme Court
indictment returned by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying
business records in the first degree. Under New York, state law is a felony to
falsify business records with intent to defraud and an intent to conceal another
crime. That is exactly what this case is about.
34 false statements. Made to cover up other crimes.
These are felony crimes in New York state.
No matter who you are, we cannot and will not normalize serious criminal
conduct. The defendant repeatedly made false
statements on New York business records. He also caused others to make false
statements. The defendant claim that he was paying
Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017.
This simply was not true. And it was a false statement that the
Senate made month after month. In 2017.
April, May, June and so on through the rest of the year.
For nine straight months. The defeated health documents in his
hand. Containing this key lie.
That he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017
and he personally signed checks for payments to Michael Cohen for each of
these nine months in total.
The grand jury found there were 34 documents with this critical false
statement. Why did Donald Trump repeatedly make
these false statements? The evidence will show that he did so to
cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election.
Donald Trump executives at the publishing company American Media Inc.
Mr. Cohen and others agreed in 2015 to catch
and kill scheme. That is a scheme to buy and suppress
negative information to help Mr. Trump's chance of winning the election.
As part of this scheme, Donald Trump and others made three payments to people who
claim to have negative information about Mr.
Trump. To make these payments, they set up
shell companies and they made yet more false statements, including, for
example, an EMI American Media incorporates business records.
One of the three people that they paid to keep quiet was a woman named Steve
Stormy Daniels. Less than two weeks before the
presidential election, Michael Cohen wired one hundred thirty thousand
dollars to Stormy Daniels lawyer. That payment was the high damaging
information from the voting public. The participants scheme was illegal.
The scheme violated New York election law, which makes it a crime to conspire
to promote a candidacy by unlawful means.
The one hundred thirty thousand a wire payment exceeded the federal campaign
contribution cap and the false statements and am ISE books violated New
York law. That is why Mr.
Trump made false statements about his payments to Mr.
Cohen. He could not simply say that the
payments were a reimbursement for Mr. Cohen's payments to Sandy, to Stormy
Daniels. To do so, to make that true statement
would have been to admit a crime. So instead, Mr.
Trump said that he was paying Mr. Cohen for fictitious legal services in
2017 to cover up actual crime committed the prior year.
And in order to get Michael Cohen his money back, they planned one last false
statement. In order to complete the scheme, they
plan to mischaracterize the repayments. Mr Cohen, it's income to the New York
state tax authorities. The conduct I just described and that
which was charged by the grand jury is felony criminal conduct in New York
state. True and accurate business records are
important everywhere, to be sure. They are all the more important in
Manhattan, the financial center of the world.
That is why we have a history in the Manhattan D office of vigorously
enforcing white collar crime. My office, including the talented
prosecutors you saw at arraignment earlier today, has charged hundreds of
felony falsifying business records. This charge, it can be said, is the
bread and butter of our white collar work.
The fraud presents itself in all different forms.
Here in Manhattan, we have charged falsifying business records for those
who violated federal bank secrecy laws. We have charged falsifying business
records for those who were seeking to cover up sex crimes.
And we have brought this charge for those who committed tax violations.
At its core, this case today is one with allegations
like so many of our white collar cases. Allegations that someone lied again and
again to protect their interests and evade the laws to which we are all held
accountable. As this office has done time and time
again, we today uphold our solemn responsibility to ensure that everyone
stands equal before the law. No amount of money and no amount of
power change is that enduring American principle.