In a significant development, former US President Donald Trump has been slapped with 34 felony counts in an unsealed indictment, according to CNN. The charges stem from a hush money payment made by his former personal attorney Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment, which was released on Tuesday, outlines detailed allegations that Trump directed Cohen to make the payment of $130,000 to cover up an alleged affair between Cohen and Daniels. This claim is further corroborated by a statement of facts published alongside the indictment, which paints a damning picture of Trump's involvement in the scheme.
According to the document, Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, arranged for the payment to be made through a limited liability company called Essential Consultants LLC, in an effort to conceal the fact that it was funded by Trump. The statement also alleges that Trump repeatedly asked Cohen about the status of the payment and directed him to keep it secret.
The document claims that Trump's actions demonstrate a clear intent to influence the election outcome and prevent the news of his alleged affair with Daniels from becoming public. This raises serious questions about Trump's integrity and whether he broke any campaign finance laws in the process.
In January, Trump was indicted by a grand jury on charges related to the hush money payment, marking the first time that the former president has faced federal criminal charges. The case against him is ongoing, with prosecutors seeking to prove that Trump knowingly directed Cohen to make the illicit payment.
The indictment and accompanying statement of facts represent a major escalation in Trump's struggles with accountability for his actions as president, highlighting the extent to which he sought to shape the narrative around his personal affairs during his time in office.
The indictment, which was released on Tuesday, outlines detailed allegations that Trump directed Cohen to make the payment of $130,000 to cover up an alleged affair between Cohen and Daniels. This claim is further corroborated by a statement of facts published alongside the indictment, which paints a damning picture of Trump's involvement in the scheme.
According to the document, Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, arranged for the payment to be made through a limited liability company called Essential Consultants LLC, in an effort to conceal the fact that it was funded by Trump. The statement also alleges that Trump repeatedly asked Cohen about the status of the payment and directed him to keep it secret.
The document claims that Trump's actions demonstrate a clear intent to influence the election outcome and prevent the news of his alleged affair with Daniels from becoming public. This raises serious questions about Trump's integrity and whether he broke any campaign finance laws in the process.
In January, Trump was indicted by a grand jury on charges related to the hush money payment, marking the first time that the former president has faced federal criminal charges. The case against him is ongoing, with prosecutors seeking to prove that Trump knowingly directed Cohen to make the illicit payment.
The indictment and accompanying statement of facts represent a major escalation in Trump's struggles with accountability for his actions as president, highlighting the extent to which he sought to shape the narrative around his personal affairs during his time in office.
they r trying 2 pin trumps ass 2 the 2016 election and it's lowkey wild!! i dont think its fair tho, cmon man who made the rules 4 the hush money payments? was it really illegal 2 pay off someone 2 keep ur name outta the papers? seems like a gray area to me...anywayz, this is gonna be a major drama fest 
and what's up with him using a company to pay it off instead of just paying cash or something seems fishy to me and the fact that he kept asking cohen about the status of the payment shows he was really into covering this up 
and I'm not surprised prosecutors are pushing for accountability for this one
I think this is a super interesting development - it's like, finally some concrete evidence that suggests Trump did indeed try to cover up something pretty shady back in 2016... and it's not just a bunch of whispers from the sidelines anymore. The fact that he was so keen on keeping the payment under wraps and even asked his lawyer to hide it is pretty damning. I mean, who tries to cover up an affair with someone they had an alleged affair with? 
And to think that he's been denying this whole thing for years... it's hard not to feel a bit of schadenfreude at the fact that justice might finally be catching up with him. The fact that this case is still ongoing, though, means we shouldn't get too excited just yet... but I guess it's a step in the right direction, you know? 
... like how did he manage to get away with it for so long tho 
... i mean, we've known about some shady stuff going down during his presidency, but this takes the cake 
... what's next? 
. It's weird that he would try to hide something like that when he's in office, you'd think he'd be transparent about his personal life. Not trying to influence the election outcome either? That sounds pretty shady to me 
. Can we really trust him now? I don't know if this is going to have any real consequences for him or not.
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. Like, who does that? And now he's trying to say that Michael Cohen did it on his behalf? Give me a break! The fact that Trump thought he could just pay someone off to keep quiet is just... wow 
.
I can only imagine how tough this must be for Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels who were just trying to move on from their pasts but got caught up in all of this. It's so sad that Trump's actions had to drag them down like that... 
And it's not just them, his family and friends have to deal with the fallout too... 
I hope justice is served but at what cost? 
. The fact that he got caught by a grand jury is pretty intense too 
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can't even make up a good story! so like, Trump pays some chick to keep quiet about him doing something shady and now he's paying the price 
this is like, so serious! 
the whole hush money thing is just crazy - like, who pays $130k to cover up an affair? 
i'm low-key shocked this hasn't happened sooner tbh. anywayz, fingers crossed justice is served