Manhattan DA Won't Charge Trump, Organization Over 'Hush Money' Payments, Lawyer Says

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance suggested that he has no plans to charge former President Donald Trump and his organization over allegations of “hush money” payments said to be sent to two women shortly before the 2016 election, Trump’s lawyer said Monday.

Ronald Fischetti, a New York attorney who represents Trump, said he met with Vance’s team last week and asked them about charges against the former president and his company. The DA’s team said they only planned to charge the Trump Organization and several of its employees for "failing to pay taxes" on corporate perks, such as cars and apartments, Politico reported.

“It’s crazy that that’s all they had,” Fischetti said.

Trump’s lawyer also noted that Vance’s team didn't discuss anything about the alleged “hush money” payments made to porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal “to not speak publicly about affairs with Trump” shortly before the election. The former president denies having had affairs with the women.

According to NPR, shortly before the U.S. presidential election in 2016, Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 as part of a settlement about her alleged 2006 affair with Trump. The latter admitted to reimbursing his lawyer for the payment made to Daniels but denied any sexual encounter, the report stated.

It also said that Trump claimed that the payment was in no way related to the campaign at the time.

In 2018, the American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, admitted that it paid $150,000 to McDougal shortly before the 2016 election to buy her rights to her story about an affair with Trump. The publication later concealed the information from voters to avoid affecting Trump’s electoral chances in 2016, according to Variety.

Trump is not expected to receive charges when the first indictment comes, Fischetti said. The charges are expected to come within the week.

Fischetti’s comments come weeks after the Federal Election Commission announced that it would not impose punishments on Trump for “directing hush-money payments” to McDougal. However, The National Enquirer was directed to pay a $187,500 fine for “knowingly and willfully” paying off the former Playboy model, which violated campaign law.

Previously, the FEC also failed to sanction Trump for the $130,000 “hush money” payments made to Daniels, according to Common Cause, an advocacy group that filed the complaints with the FEC.

“Trump masterminded this whole thing, and so far he’s walked. Everyone who carried out his dirty work here, Cohen and AMI, paid penalties and did prison time. It’s good news that the Federal Election Commission is holding the tabloid company AMI accountable for its illegal actions in the 2016 election,” the group said in a statement following the FEC’s decision.

“But it’s head-scratching that the mastermind of this criminal enterprise, Donald Trump, has still not been held accountable,” it added.