Trump to attend New York hearing on 34 felony charges for ‘falsifying business records’

This comes as it was said Trump may have made an appearance in Georgia for the hearing on misconduct allegations leveled against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

"President Trump will be attending court in New York on Thursday," Trump attorney Steve Sadow wrote in an email to Axios.

The criminal trial is currently scheduled to begin on March 25. The New York judge overseeing the case is set to rule on a series of motions filed by Trump’s team, which could affect the start date.

Trump was indicted by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg in April 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Each of these felony counts carries a maximum of four years in prison.

Trump has pleaded not guilty. The charges stem from alleged payments made by Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, with whom he is alleged to have had an affair.

In Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s unsealed indictment, he alleged that Trump, "on or about February 14, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, an invoice from Michael Cohen dated February 14, 2017," for the first count.

This receipt is marked as "a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization."

The remaining counts focused on the detailed records kept in regard to the payments made to former Trump legal counsel Michael Cohen. Each count refers to each time the payment was referenced in records, from the invoice to the receipt to the check number. Each count concerns the recording of financial transactions, whether invoices received, payments made, or receipts received for that payment.

The felony charge escalation, Bragg said, was made due to Trump acting "with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof," falsely recorded payments to his attorney.