Q: Is it illegal to pay someone hush money?
I am trying to understand the Trump hush money trial. Disregarding any falsifying of business records. If Trump was not running for an elected office and wrote a personal check to Daniels for hush money would that be considered illegal as long as Trump is not admitting to any illegal activity? Seems to me companies do this all the time, paying a person to not make a negative statement that the company denies being true. Same kind of thing as people settling out of court in order to not damage their reputation. So, the only real reason that made this a felony was because he was running for office? TY
A:
You are correct that it is not per se illegal to pay someone or some other entity "hush money" to prevent disclosure of certain information - usually embarrassing or harmful in nature. More accurately referred to as "non-disclosure" agreements, they are legally binding, and if violated, usually provide for monetary damages should the information be disclosed. These agreements are entered into all the time. While the Trump matter involved sexual issues, they can also address the terms of a legal settlement, the sale of a business and any number of other issues.
Why was Trump prosecuted? That question is better posed to the NYC prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, who miraculously cobbled together a number of misdemeanor offenses ( for which the statute of limitations had long expired) and through the exercise of questionable legal gymnastics, constructed felony charges for which Mr. Trump was later convicted. The issues on appeal are numerous. Partisans on both sides will continue to debate them until the appellate courts rule on the issues sometime in 2025.
Robert Heyman
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