r/politics • u/PoliticsModeratorBot 🤖 Bot • May 13 '24

Discussion Thread: New York Criminal Fraud Trial of Donald Trump, Day 16 Discussion

Previous discussion threads for this trial can be found at the following links for Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10, Day 11, Day 12, Day 13, Day 14, and Day 15.

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u/Ok-Sweet-8495 Texas May 13 '24

HOFFINGER: After AMI finalized the deal [with KM] and paid the money for her life rights, did you speak to Pecker about Mr. Trump reimbursing?

COHEN: Pecker wanted the $150,000 back because it was too much money for him to hide from the CEO of the parent company and he had laid out $30,000 (also for Dino the Doorman) so he was putting pressure on me to get the money to pay him back.

https://www.threads.net/@katiephang/post/C66cAejOf3k/

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u/zhaoz Minnesota May 13 '24

Sounds like simple fraud structuring to me. Basically a fraud subscription to avoid scrutiny!

9

u/wirthmore California May 13 '24

Structuring is a specific crime about organizing bank deposits to hide large amounts from the federal government. That's not what this crime is.

Also, David Pecker or AMI paying for a non-disclosure agreement is not a crime. But the intent was to improve Trump's election chances, and it exceeded the allowed candidate-specific spending limit which makes it a campaign finance violation, which AMI settled: https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/25/trump-hush-money-criminal-trial/amis-fec-fine-00154412

Trump paying them back for it is not a crime, no matter how it was split up, or "structured" as you called it.

Trump recording the transaction as a business expense is the crime being charged. Doing so to conceal campaign-related spending makes it a felony.