I read through the indictment, which is posted here:

https://www.manhattanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Donald-J.-Trump-Indictment.pdf

CAUTION: This document does NOT look like the real document, since there are no dates and other items that should be there. But since it is the only one I've seen, I will go with it.

• There are 34 counts (i.e. 34 alleged violations of law).
• They are all related to "keeping accurate business records" by the Trump Organization.
• You and I are not subject to the State snooping through our records just for fun, but if you form a corporation or other "creature of the State," then you agree to having its books and records inspected at anytime. So, they are claiming that the Trump Organization did not keep accurate records, and further alleging that it was done to hide some crime.
• Each of these records are in 3 forms: invoices from attorney Michael Cohen, checks paid out based on these invoices, and ledger entries on the books and records of the Trump Organization related to these invoices and checks.
• They were events that occurred between February 2017 and December of 2017.
• Trump was POTUS during that time, and Eric Trump or the CEO of the Trump Organization would most likely have been handling these invoices and payments, not Donald Trump (although the indictment does not give any detail on that).
• All 34 counts are for violations of New York Penal Law 175.10, "Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree."
• In order to be in the "first degree," there must be a violation of NY Penal Law 175.05, "Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree," which means it must be (a) false and (b) done with intent to defraud, AND (c) to be in the First Degree, it must have been in order to hide some other crime.

https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._penal_law_section_175.10

https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._penal_law_section_175.05

The indictment does not allege any facts that would indicate what "other crime" was being committed or hidden, nor does it allege what "intent to defraud" was.

It looks like a very sloppy, amateurish work on the DA's part. But maybe that's just how sloppy law is practiced in New York. I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.

These laws all fall under the general category of fraud. I have heard that these charges are beyond the statute of limitations, which I have heard is 2 years in New York.

However, this chart indicates that for fraud it is 6 years:

https://nycourts.gov/CourtHelp/GoingToCourt/SOLchart.shtml

It also says misdemeanors are 2 years and "other felonies" (not those listed) are 5 years.

So, 2 years and 5 years are already over. If it is 6 years, then the February and March 2017 charges are already past the statute of limitations.

So ...

They are going to claim that Trump was the head of the Trump Organization in 2017, directing its actions even though he was in the White House, and that the Trump Organization falsely stated what Michael Cohen's invoices were for and what the payments were for and that the ledger entries were falisified to defraud ... who? That is an element that would have to be proven (along with proving that Trump was directing it all).

WHO was defrauded? What evidence is there? Stormy Daniels says there was no affair to cover up. So, the public could not be harmed (not that real American law recognized such a nonsense in the first place). No individuals were harmed, even if it were fraud, and there is no evidence that there was any fraud.

Then, they would have to prove it was all done to cover up some other crime which is NOT alleged in the indictment. That seems like a BIG problem, since if the prosecution does not inform the defendant on what the full extent of the charges are, then it is impossible to defend.

The rumor has been they will allege he was doing it all to hide an affair during a presidential election -- which is federal jurisidiction, not State jurisdiction -- but that is just a RUMOR. It is NOT stated in the indictment (if this document is the real copy of the indictment).

The entire thing looks like a monkey running a kangaroo court.

Would this fly in an American court? Never.

But would it fly in a corrupt New York court? Maybe.