Did Donald Trump pay hush money to adult women or to minors' families, and what's the evidence?

1. What prosecutors charged and what the conviction said

Manhattan prosecutors’ case focused on falsified business records that they say concealed a $130,000 reimbursement to Michael Cohen for a payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election; a jury convicted Trump on counts related to that scheme ^{[2] [3] [1]}. The formal New York indictment charged falsifying records rather than charging Trump directly with making the hush-payment itself, and the legal theory centered on disguising reimbursements as legal expenses ^{[3] [6]}.

2. The evidence prosecutors relied on

Reporters and court filings describe the prosecution presenting bank records, emails, ledger entries and a surreptitious recording in which Trump discussed hush-payments, along with testimony from insiders — including Michael Cohen, David Pecker of the National Enquirer, and former aides — to show the payments and reimbursements occurred and were concealed ^{[1] [4] [7]}. Prosecutors also pointed to general ledger entries, invoices and checks as the business records they say were falsified ^[4].

3. Who the payments were alleged to benefit — adults, by reporting

The case as reported centers on payments tied to adult women: Stormy Daniels (the $130,000 payment) and Karen McDougal (an earlier National Enquirer-related payment), plus a smaller payment to a Trump Tower doorman, all of which prosecutors described as efforts to suppress potentially damaging stories during the campaign ^{[4] [1] [5]}. Coverage and the indictment emphasize those were payments to adults with claims of extramarital encounters or stories that could harm the campaign ^{[5] [4]}.

4. On allegations about minors or minors’ families — what the sources say

None of the provided sources report that prosecutors alleged payments to minors or to families of minors in the New York hush-money prosecution; the reporting uniformly frames the payments as to adult women or other adults ^{[1] [5] [4]}. Therefore, available sources do not mention payments to minors’ families in relation to the hush-money case (not found in current reporting).

5. Defense claims and alternate legal arguments

Trump’s defense disputed Cohen’s credibility and cast the transactions as private, lawful matters; they also argued broader legal objections, including presidential-immunity claims that later prompted appellate review of whether evidence touched on official acts ^{[7] [8] [9]}. After conviction, Trump’s lawyers appealed and sought to move review of aspects of the case into federal court on immunity grounds, a procedural angle some courts have since revisited ^{[8] [2]}.

6. Limits of the public record and ongoing litigation

Reporting shows judges and appeals courts continue to weigh procedural and immunity questions — for example, whether evidence overlapping with official acts should have barred admission or required federal adjudication — so legal status and final outcomes remain subject to appeal and further rulings ^{[10] [8] [2]}. Where sources differ: prosecutors described the payments and records as part of an unlawful concealment scheme, while defense filings have emphasized political motive and legal defenses rooted in presidential immunity and contested credibility ^{[1] [9] [8]}.

7. What this means for your original question

Based on the reporting compiled here, the hush-money prosecution and conviction involved payments to adult women (not minors) and evidence included Cohen’s testimony, recordings, bank and ledger records and testimony from media and Trump associates supporting the existence of the payments and reimbursements ^{[1] [4] [7]}. Available sources do not report hush-money payments to minors or to minors’ families; if you have seen such claims elsewhere, those assertions are not documented in the sources provided for this review (not found in current reporting).

If you want, I can pull exact courtroom excerpts, the indictment language, or media timelines from any of these sources to show the specific references to amounts, dates, or witness testimony cited above (which source would you prefer me to expand on?).