Trump Convicted on 34 Counts of Falsifying Business Records

Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after being indicted last year by a Manhattan grand jury, making him the first former president in American history to be convicted of a crime.

A Timeline of the Case

June 16, 2015

Trump announces he is running for president.

August 2015

Trump meets with David Pecker, then-chairman and CEO of American Media Inc. — which owns the National Enquirer — at Trump Tower in New York. Pecker agrees to help with Trump’s campaign by looking out for negative stories about him to “catch and kill,” according to prosecutors’ statement of facts.

October/November 2015

Pecker learns that a former Trump Tower doorman was trying to sell information that Trump allegedly fathered a child out of wedlock, according to the statement of facts. At the CEO’s direction, AMI negotiates and signs an agreement to pay the doorman $30,000 in exchange for acquiring exclusive rights to the story. AMI allegedly falsely characterized this payment in its general ledger, according to the statement of facts.

AMI purchases the story without fully investigating the doorman’s claims, at the direction of Pecker, per his alleged arrangement with Trump, according to the statement of facts. AMI later determines the story was not true and wanted to release the doorman from the agreement, but Lawyer A — a Trump Organization lawyer believed to be Michael Cohen — allegedly instructs him not to do so until after the presidential election, according to the statement of facts.

June 2016

The National Enquirer’s editor-in-chief and chief content officer contacted Cohen (Lawyer A) about a woman — who is believed to be Playboy model Karen McDougal — who alleged she had had a sexual relationship with Trump while he was married, according to the statement of facts. Cohen (Lawyer A) is updated by the National Enquirer about this regularly over text and by phone, according to the statement of facts. Trump allegedly did not want this information to become public because he was concerned what impact it may have on his campaign for president, according to the statement of facts.

AMI ultimately pays the woman $150,000 in exchange for her not speaking out on the alleged sexual relationship. She would also get two magazine cover features and a series of articles published under her byline, according to the statement of facts.

Prosecutors allege that this deal was made based on the understanding that Trump or the Trump Organization would reimburse AMI for the payment, according to the statement of facts.

Trump has denied having the affair.

September 2016

An audio recording allegedly captures a conversation between Trump and Cohen (Lawyer A) as they discuss how to obtain the rights to the woman’s story from AMI and reimburse it for the payment, according to the statement of facts.

Cohen (Lawyer A) allegedly tells Trump he will open a company for the transfer of the woman’s account and said he had spoken to Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg about setting it up, according to the statement of facts.

A shell company — called Resolution Consultants, LLC — is allegedly set up on about Sept. 30, 2016. On or about that date, Pecker signs an agreement transferring the rights of the woman’s account to the shell company owned by Cohen (Lawyer A) for $125,000, according to court documents. But, before the reimbursement was made, Pecker consulted AMI’s general counsel and then told Cohen (Lawyer A) that the deal was off.

Oct. 7, 2016

News breaks that Trump was caught on tape in 2005 telling the host of the entertainment show “Access Hollywood,” “I just start kissing them [women]. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab ’em by the [genitals]. You can do anything.”

According to prosecutors, evidence shows that both Trump and his campaign staff were concerned the tape would harm his viability as a candidate and reduce his standing with female voters in particular.

In a statement Trump released after the recording was leaked, he apologized and called his remarks “locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago.”

Oct. 10, 2016

AMI’s editor-in-chief contacts Pecker about a second woman — believed to be adult film actress Stormy Daniels — who alleged she had a sexual encounter with Trump while he was married, according to the statement of facts.

Pecker tells the editor-in-chief to notify Cohen (Lawyer A). The AMI editor-in-chief connects Cohen (Lawyer A) with the woman’s lawyer. The two then negotiate a deal to secure the woman’s silence. The woman would be paid $130,000 for the rights to her story, according to the statement of facts.

Trump allegedly tells Cohen (Lawyer A) to delay making a payment to the second woman for as long as possible, according to prosecutors. If he is able to delay making the payment until after the election, they could avoid paying altogether, Trump allegedly says, per prosecutors.

Prosectors claim emails and text messages between both lawyers and the AMI editor-in-chief show they attempted to delay making the payment for as long as possible, according to the statement of facts.

Ultimately, Trump agrees to the payoff and directs Cohen (Lawyer A) to proceed, prosecutors allege. Trump allegedly does not want to make the payment himself and asked Cohen (Lawyer A) and Weisselberg to find a way to make the payment, according to the statement of facts. Cohen (Lawyer A) makes the payment after confirming that Trump would pay him back.

Oct. 26, 2016

Shortly after speaking with Trump over the phone, Cohen (Lawyer A) opens a bank account in Manhattan in the name of a shell company he had created to effectuate the payment, according to the statement of facts.

Cohen (Lawyer A) then transfers $131,000 from his personal home equity line of credit into the account, according to court documents.

Oct. 27, 2016

Cohen (Lawyer A) transfers $130,000 to a lawyer representing the second woman accusing Trump of having a sexual encounter with her while he was married to suppress her story, according to court documents.

Nov. 8, 2016

Trump wins the presidential election.

AMI then releases the doorman and the first accuser of their nondisclosure agreements, according to court documents.

By Jan. 20, 2017

Prosecutors allege that between Election Day and Inauguration Day, Trump meets privately with Pecker in Trump Tower in Manhattan, thanking him for handling the stories of the doorman and the first woman, according to the statement of facts.

Trump invites Pecker to the inauguration, according to the statement of facts.

January 2017

Trump arranges to reimburse Cohen (Lawyer A) for the payoff he made on his behalf shortly after being elected president, according to the statement of facts.

Cohen (Lawyer A) meets with Weisselberg to discus how he would be reimbursed, with Weisselberg asking Cohen to bring a copy of a bank statement for the shell company account showing the $130,000 payment, according to the statement of facts.

Weisselberg and Cohen (Lawyer A) agree to a total repayment amount of $420,000. That figure reflected double the $130,000 payment and $50,000 reimbursement for another expense in addition to a $60,000 year-end bonus — so Cohen (Lawyer A) could characterize the payment as income on his tax returns instead of a reimbursement — according to the statement of facts.

Trump, Weisselberg and Cohen (Lawyer A) agree the lawyer would be paid the $420,000 through 12 monthly payments of $35,000 over the course of 2017, according to court documents. Cohen (Lawyer A) was to send an invoice to the Trump Org each month falsely requesting a payment of $35,000