Crime
Donald Trump statement of facts; everything the court is accusing him of
Dana Malcolm
Staff writer
#USA, April 6, 2023 – It cost Donald Trump over $400,000 to hide potentially damaging information regarding the Stormy Daniels matter, money he paid by repeatedly and fraudulently falsifying his New York business records. This is the accusation detailed in a 13-page Statement of Facts released by the Court alongside Trump’s 34-count indictment on Tuesday.
The Court is also alleging that a magazine company, American Media Inc., paid off at least two sources to ensure they did not publish the damaging allegations about Trump before the 2016 presidential election, which he won.
“AMI CEO agreed to help with the Defendant’s campaign, saying that he would act as the “eyes and ears” for the campaign by looking out for negative stories about the Defendant and alerting Lawyer A before the stories were published. The AMI CEO also agreed to publish negative stories about the Defendant’s competitors for the election,”
the document claims.
Lawyer A, often referred to as Trump’s fixer, is identified by US media houses as Michael Cohen.
That ‘damaging information’ included purported evidence from the Trump Tower doorman of a ‘love child’ which AMI paid $30,000 for exclusive rights to and did not publish. Finding out that the story was ‘fake,’ they refused to release the doorman from the exclusive agreement until after the election was won.
Another $150,000 was paid out to stop a source only characterized as Woman 1 (identified by US media houses as a former Playboy model, Karen McDougal), from speaking out about a sexual relationship she had with Donald Trump while he was married.
Another $130,000 payment was made to another woman (identified by US media houses as adult film actress Stormy Daniels) this time from Cohen, weeks before the election. After winning the election, Trump met with the AMI CEO who had by then, snuffed out two scandals and tried to gain control of the infamous, “grab them by the [genitals],” according to an Access Hollywood recording.
The Manhattan court says, as thanks, the CEO was invited to the White House for dinner.
For the lawyers’ part, he was reimbursed $420,000 so he could claim the $180,000 Trump owed him (for the initial $130,000 payment and an additional, $50,000 fee) after 50 percent in taxes plus a $60,000 bonus. This money was paid out to him over 12 months via checks labelled as legal fees. It is these allegedly, mischaracterized checks that the Manhattan Courts have latched onto and for which the former president is being charged.
Cohen has already pleaded guilty and served prison time for his own part in the dastardly campaign, but Donald Trump has vehemently maintained his innocence and unless he suddenly pleads guilty, there will be no resolution until the case goes to trial and that won’t be until next year.
You can read the statement of facts here.
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000187-4dd5-dfdf-af9f-4dfda6e80000
Garfield Ekon
Staff Writer
USA, September 21, 2024 – Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with serious sex offenses from a 14-page indictment, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking by force and transportation to engage in prostitution.
Mr. Combs, 54, was arrested on Monday evening, with allegations of running a criminal enterprise from at least 2008 that relied on drugs and violence to force women to “fulfill his sexual desires”, according to prosecutors. A New York federal judge remanded the musician in custody on Tuesday after prosecutors argued he was a “serious flight risk”.
If convicted on all three counts, the rapper and record producer faces a sentence of 15 years up to life in prison. Asked by US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky how he wished to plead, Mr. Combs stood up and said: “not guilty”.
According to court documents, Mr. Combs “wielded the power” of his status to “lure female victims, to engage in extended sex acts” called “Freak Offs”. During Freak Offs, Combs distributed a variety of controlled substances to victims, in part to keep the victims “obedient and compliant,” the indictment said.
In a news briefing, US prosecutor Damian Williams said officials found firearms, ammunition and more than 1,000 bottles of lubricant during raids on Mr. Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles, about six months ago. Mr. Williams said federal agents also found three semi-automatic rifles with defaced serial numbers, and a drum magazine.
He told reporters that further charges were possible, without offering details.
Mr. Agnifilo, the musician’s lawyer, maintained, “there’s no coercion and no crime.”
“He’s not afraid of the charges,” he said, adding that he believed Mr. Combs was the target of “an unjust prosecution”.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said that Mr. Combs had “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.
Prosecutors accuse Mr. Combs of “creating a criminal enterprise” whose members – under his direction – engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour, kidnapping, arson and bribery.
“On numerous occasions”, the documents said, Mr. Combs assaulted women by “striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them”.
The indictment did not specify how many women were alleged victims.
It also does not accuse Mr. Combs himself of engaging directly in unwanted sexual acts with women.
Last November, his ex-girlfriend, singer Casandra Elizabeth Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit against him that included graphic descriptions of violent abuse.
Sean “Diddy” Combs denied the accusations, but settled the case a day after it was filed.
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