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Donald Trump allegedly met with his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to discuss parts of their "hush money" scheme in the Oval Office, according to the recently unsealed Manhattan indictment.
Trump was officially arrested by the Manhattan District Attorney on Tuesday afternoon and arraigned on charges relating to district attorney Alvin Bragg's long-running investigation into his alleged involvement in the hush money plan. According to the newly unsealed indictment, Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to conceal a repayment to his former lawyer, who paid two women to stay quiet about affairs they had with Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 election. This included $130,000 paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges on Tuesday and is next scheduled to appear in court in early December as the case moves ahead. He has long denied that the affairs ever happened and dismissed Bragg's work as politically motivated. This is the first criminal indictment of a former president in U.S. history.
According to one part of the newly unsealed indictment, the alleged plan to pay off the women and conceal the payments extended into Trump's time in the White House and involved meeting with Cohen, referred to in the document as "Lawyer A," to discuss the matter in the Oval Office.
The indictment's statement of facts explains that a plan was drafted by Trump, Cohen, and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg to pay the lawyer $420,000 for his effort, which included reimbursing the $130,000 he paid in hush money, extra for tax liabilities, and a bonus. This occurred shortly before the election, with Trump and Cohen later meeting in the White House in February 2017 to confirm the repayment plan they had settled on: paying out $35,000 a month for 12 months, concealed in records as being for legal services rendered.
"The People of the State of New York allege that Donald J. Trump repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election," Bragg said in a statement on Tuesday. "Manhattan is home to the country's most significant business market. We cannot allow New York businesses to manipulate their records to cover up criminal conduct."
In a statement sent to Newsweek, former federal prosecutor Franklin Monsour said that the occurrence of events related to the scheme happening in the White House might not add any legal gravity to Trump's charges, though it might be helpful in swaying a jury.
"That any alleged actions took place in the White House shouldn't bare on the charges themselves," Monsour explained. "But it's a fact the prosecutors certainly will enjoy putting before a jury. It also goes without saying that an executive privilege wouldn't apply to a meeting about hush money payments."
In his first statement following the arraignment, Trump called the event "shocking," but maintained his derision of the case's merits and said there were "no surprises." He intends to deliver an address on the situation from his Mar-a-Lago residence later on Tuesday night.
Newsweek reached out to a legal expert via email for further insight into the indictment.
Updated 04/10/2023 6:38 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Franklin Monsour.
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more