Paying someone for silence is not a crime. The charges were about how Trump repaid Michael Cohen in 2017: through monthly checks recorded as legal fees under a nonexistent retainer. Prosecutors counted 34 records, 11 invoices, 12 ledger entries and 11 checks, and a jury found every one of them false. [1]
Falsifying records is a misdemeanor in New York unless done to hide another crime. Prosecutors said the other crime was a state law against conspiring to promote an election “by unlawful means.” The jury had to agree unanimously that he conspired to promote his election unlawfully, but not on which unlawful means, which could include federal campaign-finance violations, false tax filings or other false records. [2]
Trump denies the encounter with Daniels and calls the case political. On 10 January 2025 Justice Juan Merchan gave him an unconditional discharge: no penalty, but a felony conviction on the record. [3][4]
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