In the “hush money” trial of former President Donald Trump, the prosecution and defense outlined their cases before a jury on April 22, with the Manhattan district attorney’s office alleging that the 34 counts of falsifying business records levied against the former president were part of a criminal conspiracy and cover-up and the defense arguing that no crimes were committed in the sequence of events summarized by prosecutors.
Prosecutors need to convince the jury that the allegedly falsified business records were created in order to cover up a larger crime. Exactly what the larger crime is was not stated in the indictment, as prosecutors argued that it was not required. In court, they’ve alleged a violation of state law, a conspiracy to promote or prevent the election of any individual to public office through unlawful means.
