Dear Commons Community,

The news media focused on Donald Trump’s long-awaited indictment in New York yesterday. The Manhattan district attorney’s office unveiled the indictment for the first time charging former President Donald J. Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, a low-level felony in New York State. The charges are related to reimbursements to Mr. Trump’s former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, for a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty in court to these charges.

Along with the indictment, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, also released a “statement of facts” document outlining a larger scheme that he said Mr. Trump and others had orchestrated to avoid negative press during the 2016 campaign. That scheme also included hush-money payments to a second woman who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump and to a former Trump doorman who made an unproven claim that Mr. Trump had an out-of-wedlock child, Mr. Bragg said Tuesday.

The New York Times has reviewed and annotated the indictment to clarify the charges. If you are interested in this case, you will find the annotations helpful.

Tony

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