Inside the Other Trump Hush Money Case

In “Inside the Other Trump Hush Money Case,” (The Daily Beast, April 4, 2023), founder Emily Bradford discusses how the Manhattan District Attorney might use the Karen McDougal story in its prosecution of Donald Trump for falsifying business records in connection with payments to Stormy Daniels.

Bradford, a former prosecutor who handled fraud cases with both New York’s Office of the Attorney General and the Manhattan DA, said the McDougal evidence could play a key supporting role at trial.

“It’s not uncommon in cases like this one, where intent might be difficult to prove, for the DA to provide evidence of other instances of similar behavior,” Bradford told The Daily Beast.

She pointed to what is known in New York as the Molineux rule, which provides an exception to the general rule that evidence of uncharged bad acts is not admissible.

“Prosecutors cannot present evidence of uncharged wrongdoing to prove that a defendant has a propensity to commit the type of crime actually charged. But evidence of similar behavior may be admissible for other purposes, such as to prove intent,” Bradford explained, noting that the rule is especially helpful in white collar cases.

Bradford added that, given what’s understood from previous reporting and court filings, she wouldn’t expect to see actual charges stemming from the McDougal agreement, since Trump apparently never made a payment or reimbursement and therefore would most likely not have falsified any business records.

But the agreement itself, along with the other ample evidence of Trump’s involvement, could help demonstrate that “he understood what he was doing and was an active participant in the concealment,” she said.

[….]

But unlike with Daniels, in the McDougal case, the confession did not come only from [Michael] Cohen. AMI also admitted to the crime in its non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ. The company also ate a $187,500 Federal Election Commission fine for “knowingly and willfully” violating federal election law.

So while there may not be a false business records tie-in to the McDougal payment, those judgments could strengthen Bragg’s Molineux hand.

“Practically speaking, I think they’d be looking for as much objective, non-Cohen testimony as possible,” Bradford said.

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