So Here's What Trump's ACTUALLY Being Charged With...

The Manhattan District Attorney indicted Trump last April on 34 counts, including the alleged falsification of business documents related to a $130,000 payment intended to silence adult film actress Stormy Daniels about her claims of an affair. This charge, typically a misdemeanor, was escalated to a felony on the grounds that it was an attempt to cover up another crime, which was not explicitly stated at the time.

In Tuesday's court proceedings, prosecutors specified that the crime Trump allegedly aimed to hide through the falsification of business records was a breach of a state election law, as reported by multiple sources. The law in question, New York Election Law § 17-152, deems it a misdemeanor for two or more individuals to conspire to influence an election through unlawful means.

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This clarification from Prosecutor Josh Steinglass came in response to an objection raised by Trump's attorney, Emil Bove, who pointed out that the indictment did not list a conspiracy charge. Prior to this, Steinglass had been questioning David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, about his relationship with Steve Bannon, a former Trump administration official.

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During the opening arguments on Monday, Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo contended that Trump's alleged reimbursement of his former attorney, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 payment to Daniels was part of a wider conspiracy to influence the 2016 election. Colangelo drew attention to three "catch and kill" deals that Trump allegedly arranged with Cohen and Pecker to prevent the release of damaging stories.

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Judge Juan Merchan had previously allowed the case to proceed under three theories: that Trump falsified business records to hide a violation of federal election law, to conceal an intention to breach state election law, or to cover up an intent to violate a state tax law. The remarks made on Tuesday mark the first time prosecutors have definitively identified the specific crime they allege Trump sought to conceal.