Former US President Donald Trump has been formally charged with multiple felony counts in a stunning development that marks a major escalation of the ongoing investigations into his dealings. The charges, which have now been unsealed, are directly related to a hush money payment made by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen.
According to court documents, which were released by CNN and obtained through a document cloud platform, Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts in connection with the payment of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The payment was made as part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Trump allegedly signed to keep quiet about an alleged affair between him and Daniels.
The indictment, which is believed to be the first ever brought against a former US President, accuses Trump of violating campaign finance laws by funneling millions of dollars in funds from his presidential campaign into the payment made on behalf of Daniels. The documents also allege that Trump knowingly used campaign funds for personal expenses, including those related to Daniels.
The charges against Trump come after years of investigations and probes by federal authorities, including the FBI and the Department of Justice. In 2018, it was reported that Cohen had acted as a proxy for Trump's inner circle in making the payment to Daniels, with Cohen later stating that he had made the payment without Trump's knowledge or direction.
The unsealing of the indictment marks a significant moment in the ongoing saga surrounding Trump and his dealings, and is likely to have major implications for the former President's future.
According to court documents, which were released by CNN and obtained through a document cloud platform, Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts in connection with the payment of $130,000 to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The payment was made as part of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that Trump allegedly signed to keep quiet about an alleged affair between him and Daniels.
The indictment, which is believed to be the first ever brought against a former US President, accuses Trump of violating campaign finance laws by funneling millions of dollars in funds from his presidential campaign into the payment made on behalf of Daniels. The documents also allege that Trump knowingly used campaign funds for personal expenses, including those related to Daniels.
The charges against Trump come after years of investigations and probes by federal authorities, including the FBI and the Department of Justice. In 2018, it was reported that Cohen had acted as a proxy for Trump's inner circle in making the payment to Daniels, with Cohen later stating that he had made the payment without Trump's knowledge or direction.
The unsealing of the indictment marks a significant moment in the ongoing saga surrounding Trump and his dealings, and is likely to have major implications for the former President's future.
can't believe this is happening... finally some accountability for trump's shady dealings 
he thinks he can just use campaign funds for his own personal expenses? no way! 
this is a huge deal, first ever indictment of a former US president, and it's about time someone held him accountable for breaking the law 
can't wait to see how this all plays out in court 
- The fact that Trump has been charged with multiple felony counts shows that the law is finally catching up with him 
. It's a reminder that everyone, regardless of their position or power, must be held accountable for their actions 
. Can't wait to see how this plays out in court 
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I mean I knew he was involved in some shady stuff but 34 felony counts?! that's crazy! I'm curious to know more about how this whole thing went down - what exactly did Trump do with those millions of dollars? and why did Michael Cohen act like a proxy for him? 
I mean, can you even believe that the US government has charged someone who was literally the face of their country with felonies? I'm talking about a whole 34 counts 
I'm not gonna lie, my initial reaction was shock and disgust 
but as time went on, I realized that this was probably inevitable.
It's not exactly surprising, but still, it's pretty wild to see someone who was so in-your-face about everything else being brought down by their own actions.
! I remember back in my day, we had politicians making mistakes left and right, but never thought they'd actually get charged with felonies. This whole Stormy Daniels thing was a big deal even then, but who knew it would lead to this? 34 felony counts? That's crazy talk 
. and it's a former president who gets charged with all this? what does that say about the system? seems to me like there's more to this story than meets the eye 
This is what happens when you play with fire, folks. A hush money payment might seem like a small price to pay, but not when it's coming from a presidential campaign fund 
. I'm not surprised, though - this guy has been dodging accountability for years 
. Now, let's see how this plays out in court 
. The whole thing with Stormy Daniels just seems so shady - like he was trying to buy his way out of a scandal and nobody stopped him 
. And now, 34 felony counts? That's some serious business. I'm not saying he deserves it, but I am saying that the law is the law and if you're gonna break it, you gotta own up to it 
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. But hey, I guess you can't rush a good thing, right? The implications for his future are definitely going to be huge - we'll see how he handles this one 
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. and now his campaign finance laws are coming back to bite him hard 
. This whole thing with Cohen and Daniels has been shady from the get go 
. The fact that he's being charged with 34 felony counts is wild 
. It's like, you can't just funnel millions of dollars into someone's personal expenses without breaking some laws 
. This indictment is gonna have major implications for Trump's future, and let's be real, it's not looking good 
.
...it's all about integrity, right? 