Among Donald Trump’s meetings with the law, that of New York is possibly the least pressing. However, all the ingredients will come together to make it an unforgettable moment: an ex-president, his ex-personal lawyer who changed his mind, a porn stara former model of Playboy and lots of financial shenanigans. We won’t be bored.
During the six weeks of trial, perhaps a little more, we will be amazed. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records, which wouldn’t merit such fanfare if we stuck to the real estate or financial world.
Where things get tricky for the former president is that prosecutors accuse him of falsifying business records with the intent to commit or cover up another crime related to his 2016 campaign.
A REPUTATION IN TARS
Just before the election which pitted him against Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump’s reputation had been severely tarnished by the recordings of the show Access Hollywood in which he was heard boasting, because he was a star, of being able to take full hands of women’s genitals… without their consent, of course.
Around the same time, two women who claimed to have had affairs with the real estate developer decided to trade their story.
THERE PLAYMATE AND THE PORN STAR
The first, Karen McDougal, playmate of Playboyended up selling the torrid tale of her relationship with Donald Trump for $150,000 to American Media Inc. (AMI), which published, among other things, the National Enquirer.
We later learned that David Pecker, CEO of AMI and great friend of Donald Trump, sat on the story and never published anything, a case of catch and kill: you pick up the story, then you make it disappear.
At the same time, Stormy Daniels, a porn actress, had her own story to tell with similar details: a meeting in the same place, at the same time – a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe in 2006 – and then a sexual encounter at the Beverly Hills Hotel, California.
She received $130,000 to keep quiet about her lustful escapade with the man who, in the meantime, had become the Republican candidate for president.
LAWYER VIRE-CAPOT
These payments were managed by Michael Cohen, the real estate developer’s personal lawyer. He also had to take out, in the case of Stormy Daniels, a line of credit on his house to make the payment. Cohen was reimbursed in different parts, under different pretexts, via several checks, hence the 34 accusations of falsification of commercial documents.
Michael Cohen eventually got caught and pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal campaign financing. Now ready to testify against his former boss, this is where this trial moves away from its libidinous origins.
Reading the instructions that Judge Juan Merchan plans to present to the jury members, Donald Trump had these business records falsified to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election.
An attack on American democracy, different from what is accused elsewhere, but which would confirm, in Trump, a well-rooted and long-standing disdain for democratic rules.
AFP photos
