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Fact check: What were the 34 felony charges against Donald Trump?
Executive Summary
Donald Trump was convicted in New York on 34 felony counts of first-degree falsifying business records tied to alleged payments to suppress damaging stories during the 2016 campaign; the convictions stem from the Manhattan District Attorney’s prosecution of a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels and related alleged payments [1] [2]. Other criminal matters involving Trump — including federal indictments with different charges such as conspiracy and obstruction — are separate and allege a distinct set of crimes beyond the 34 New York counts [3] [4]. This analysis extracts the specific claims about the 34 counts, places them against reporting from 2023–2025, and compares competing framings and legal context [5] [1].
1. What the 34 Counts Specifically Alleged — A Close Read of the Hush-Money Case
The central factual claim across the reporting is that the 34 counts charged Donald Trump with falsifying business records in the first degree, tied to efforts to conceal payments designed to influence the 2016 presidential election by keeping potentially damaging stories from surfacing. The indictment and later trial focus on a $130,000 cash payment to Stormy Daniels, but prosecutors and reporting note allegations extended to other payments — including to Karen McDougal and a former doorman — that prosecutors say were recorded or routed in company books to hide their true purpose of influencing the election cycle [1] [2]. The New York conviction on May 30, 2024, represents a criminal finding on those counts, and the Manhattan DA framed the scheme as an election-related concealment [1].
2. How Multiple Reports Describe the Same 34 Counts — Convergence and Differences
Contemporary accounts converge on the core legal theory: falsified corporate records to hide politically motivated payments. New York-focused reporting describes a single rack of 34 business-records felony counts forming the trial’s legal backbone and resulting in conviction [1]. Broader summaries of Trump’s legal exposure place those 34 counts within a larger mosaic of prosecutions; some outlets and legal summaries count additional state and federal charges across different indictments, noting a cumulative total of criminal counts across jurisdictions [4]. The principal difference among sources is emphasis: New York reporting underscores the connection to campaign-era suppression of stories, while aggregated timelines stress the 34-count case as one component of multiple ongoing prosecutions [2] [4].
3. Legal Context and Separate Federal Indictments — Don’t Conflate the Charges
Reporting from 2023 and later stresses that the 34 New York counts are distinct from federal charges alleging conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding, and other federal offenses. The federal indictment language lists a different set of alleged criminal conduct, including conspiracies and obstruction tied to events and evidence separate from the Manhattan hush-money prosecution [3]. Legal analysts and prosecutors treat the New York falsified-records counts as a state-law pathway to criminal liability for alleged election-related concealment, whereas federal cases pursue alleged conspiracies affecting federal processes. The separation matters for remedies, venues, and appeals: each indictment carries its own procedural track and potential penalties [3] [6].
4. Timeline and Outcomes Reported Through 2025 — Conviction, Appeal, and Ongoing Litigation
Multiple sources document a conviction on the 34 counts with subsequent appellate activity. The initial guilty verdict in Manhattan reported on May 30, 2024, established criminal liability on those state counts [1]. Later reporting through 2025 references appeals and coverage noting the historic nature of a former president being convicted, with news articles continuing to track appeals and legal consequences as of October 2025 [5] [1]. Coverage that aggregates all of Trump’s legal matters through early 2025 places the 34-count conviction alongside other indictments, underscoring that legal exposure spans multiple jurisdictions and charges, each with separate procedural timelines and public-political implications [2] [4].
5. Competing Framings and What’s Emphasized or Omitted in Coverage
News outlets and prosecutors emphasize different elements: Manhattan prosecutors framed the falsified-record counts as part of an election-interference scheme to conceal damaging information before a vote [1]. Some summaries and aggregated legal guides emphasize sheer count totals across cases, sometimes leading readers to conflate the 34 falsified-records counts with federal conspiracy and obstruction allegations that are legally and factually distinct [4]. Coverage also varies on referencing ancillary alleged payments beyond Daniels; some accounts stress multiple alleged payoffs while others focus narrowly on the $130,000 payment, which can shape public understanding of the breadth of the alleged concealment scheme [2] [1].
6. Bottom Line — What the Record Shows and What Remains Separate
The record in these sources is clear that the 34 felony counts were state charges for first-degree falsifying business records connected to efforts to hide payments during the 2016 campaign, culminating in a May 30, 2024 conviction in Manhattan [1] [2]. Those counts are legally separate from federal indictments alleging conspiracy and obstruction, which name different statutory offenses and facts [3]. Reporting through 2025 continues to follow appeals and the interplay of multiple prosecutions, and readers should treat the 34-count verdict as one distinct legal judgment within a broader, multi-jurisdictional landscape of prosecutions and appeals [5] [4].