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At its heart the case being brought against former US president Donald Trump is that he falsified records of his business to cover up moves to suppress information that could have damaged his campaign for the White House in 2016.
The prosecution claimed in court documents that from August 2015 to December 2017, Trump orchestrated a scheme with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and purchasing negative information about him to prevent it from being published.
Prosecutors maintained that this practice was aimed at benefiting Trump’s electoral prospects.
The scheme centred around a practice known as “catch and kill” and involved a media company called AMI that owned and published magazines and supermarket tabloids including the National Enquirer.
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The practice of “catch and kill” involved publications paying for stories that could potentially be damaging but never actually publishing the material.
The prosecution document states that in August 2015, Trump met with his then lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen (identified as Lawyer A), as well as the AMI chairman and chief executive David Pecker, at Trump Tower.
“At the meeting, the AMI CEO agreed to help with the defendant’s campaign, saying that he would act as the ‘eyes and ears’ for the campaign by looking out for negative stories about the defendant and alerting Lawyer A before the stories were published. The AMI CEO also agreed to publish negative stories about the defendant’s competitors for the election,” reads the document.
The document highlights three separate examples that include the cases of money paid to the porn star Stormy Daniels and a model called Karen McDougal.
It also highlights the case of a former doorman who, it seemed at one point, had potentially explosive material about Trump.
The document states: “In or about October or November 2015, the AMI CEO learned that a former Trump Tower doorman was trying to sell information regarding a child that the defendant had allegedly fathered out of wedlock. At the AMI CEO’s direction, AMI negotiated and signed an agreement to pay the doorman $30,000 to acquire exclusive rights to the story. AMI falsely characterized this payment in AMI’s books and records, including in its general ledger. AMI purchased the information from the doorman without fully investigating his claims, but the AMI CEO directed that the deal take place because of his agreement with the defendant and Lawyer A.”
“When AMI later concluded that the story was not true, the AMI CEO wanted to release the doorman from the agreement. However, Lawyer A instructed the AMI CEO not to release the doorman until after the presidential election, and the AMI CEO complied with that instruction because of his agreement with the defendant and Lawyer A.”
The prosecution document maintains that the National Enquirer paid $150,000 to McDougal for her story about an affair with Trump – which he has denied – with a view to suppressing it.
The final case highlighted involves a $130,000 payment made by Cohen to Daniels in the final days of the 2016 campaign.
Prosecutors claim Trump reimbursed Cohen and that this money was falsely recorded in the books as legal expenses.
The prosecution document says that after winning the presidential election, Trump privately thanked Pecker for “handling” the stories about the doorman and McDougal.
“In the summer of 2017, the defendant invited the AMI CEO to the White House for a dinner to thank him for his help during the campaign”, it says.
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The New York case against Trump is unlikely to return to court until towards the end of the year.
However, the key question will be how will it impact on his campaign for the presidency in 2024.
A number of legal experts on US television networks on Tuesday maintained that the prosecution case appeared thinner than had been anticipated.
In essence it contained little that had not emerged previously.
Trump’s lawyers have vowed to fight the charges and strongly criticised the nature of the case brought by the New York prosecutors.
What is certain is that the New York court room will be a key stop on the campaign trail. Trump will portray himself as a victim and use the prosecution to rile his supporters and to generate funds.
The campaign has claimed to have raised about $8 million since the grand jury decision to indict the former president last week.
[ Michael McDowell: Donald Trump’s indictment makes his re-election more likely ]
Even some in the Republican Party who would not favour the prospect of a second Trump presidency are concerned the case may make him stronger politically, especially if the charges are thrown out by the court or if the former president is quickly acquitted.
Utah Republican senator Mitt Romney, a long-time Trump critic, said on Tuesday: “I believe President Trump’s character and conduct make him unfit for office,”
“Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law. The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system.”