Former President Donald Trump was charged with falsifying business records because he repeatedly issued checks to a lawyer for one purpose when the payments were actually for another reason, Manhattan’s district attorney said on April 4.
Trump paid Michael Cohen, his lawyer at the time, in 2017 in monthly installments. The payments were ostensibly made as part of a retainer for legal services performed in 2017. But they were actually reimbursements for Cohen’s payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult actress who has claimed Trump had an affair with her, according to charging documents.
“For nine straight months, the defendant held documents in his hand containing this key lie, that he was paying Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017,” Bragg said. “And he personally signed checks for Michael Cohen for each of these nine months.”…