The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has accused former President Donald Trump of “repeatedly and fraudulently” falsifying business records to hide criminal conduct and damaging information from the public ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Here are eight takeaways from the Trump indictment and DA Alvin Bragg’s statement of facts, both of which were released Tuesday after Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in connection.

1. The indictment by the numbers

Twelve of the charges allege that business ledgers were falsified, 11 allege that checks were falsified, and 11 allege that invoices from former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen were falsified.

All 34 alleged crimes were made “with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission” of another crime, according to the indictment. It could be an important distinction for prosecutors because the alleged cover-up of a crime is what they say elevates the charges from misdemeanors to felonies, although that have not yet specified what the underlying crime is.

2. The alleged scheme began in August 2015

According to the DA’s office, Trump orchestrated a scheme with others to purchase the rights to negative stories about the then-presidential candidate to prevent them from going public and hurting his campaign.

The covert payments – made initially by others on behalf of Trump – violated election laws, prosecutors said. The participants then allegedly falsified business records to conceal the initial crime.

3. Michael Cohen and David Pecker have admitted roles in crimes, DA says

The DA’s statement said two parties to the agreement “have admitted to committing illegal conduct in connection with the scheme.”

The indictment names Cohen by name, and the statement of facts, which refers to him only as “Lawyer A,” notes that he pleaded guilty to two federal crimes involving illegal campaign contributions to Trump and served time in prison.

Neither the indictment nor the statement of facts mentions by name David Pecker, the former CEO of American Media Inc., the parent company of the National Enquirer, but the statement of facts identifies him by his former job title.

AMI entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in August 2018 in which Pecker admitted the company “made a payment to a source of a story to ensure that the source ‘did not publicize damaging allegations’ about Trump before the election, prosecutors noted.

Bragg’s office said it was Cohen and Pecker who met with Trump at Trump Tower in August 2015 to discuss suppressing damaging stories about the presidential candidate.

Both Cohen and Pecker testified before the grand jury.

4. The indictment mentions alleged payments to two women

Prosecutors said Trump and his associates were trying to squelch stories from two women who alleged they had sexual affairs with the real estate mogul-turned-politician. Although they were not named in the court documents, the women are believed to be adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

In 2016, Pecker helped hide McDougal’s story by paying her $150,000 not to speak about her alleged affair with Trump in exchange for two magazine cover features about her and a series of articles that would be published under her bylines, Bragg’s office said.

Cohen secretly recorded a conversation with Trump in which they discussed reimbursing AMI for what is known as the “catch-and-kill.” Prosecutors said Cohen created a shell company, to which AMI had agreed to transfer the rights to McDougal’s story. But AMI ultimately backed out of the deal before the reimbursement took place, prosecutors said.

In October 2016, in the wake of the release of the “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump boasted about groping women, AMI learned that Daniels was also alleging an affair with Trump and put her attorney in touch with Cohen, according to the DA.

Cohen allegedly negotiated a $130,000 payment for the rights to her story.

Trump has denied having affairs with McDougal and Daniels and says he was unaware of any payments made to them.

5. DA: Trump hoped to avoid Daniels after agreement

According to prosecutors, Trump directed Cohen to stall the payment to Daniels for as long as possible.

“He instructed Lawyer A [Cohen] that if they could delay the payment until after the election, they could avoid paying altogether, because at that point it would not matter if the story became public,” the statement of facts said.

Cohen attempted to delay the payments but eventually gave into mounting pressure, prosecutors said. He then allegedly made the payment himself after setting up a different shell company.

6. The doorman story resurfaces

The first hush money payment wasn’t to McDougal or Daniels, but rather to a Trump Tower doorman, according to the DA’s office.

AMI learned that in October or November 2015, the doorman was attempting to sell a story alleging that Trump fathered a child out of wedlock.

AMI purchased the story for $30,000 without fully investigating the claims because Pecker was following through on his promise to protect Trump, prosecutors said. After AMI concluded the story was not true, it wanted to release the doorman from the agreement, but Cohen successfully urged the company to wait until after the presidential election.

7. Cohen payments

To reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 payment to Daniels, The Trump Organization and Cohen worked out an arrangement that made it appear in records that Cohen was being paid $35,000 a month as part of a retainer agreement that did not actually exist, according to Bragg’s office.

In all, however, Cohen was to be reimbursed $420,000 -- $130,000 for the Daniels payment, $50,000 for another unspecified reimbursement, $180,000 to cover income taxes for what was recorded as income and an additional $60,000 “supplemental year-end bonus,” according to the statement of facts.

Ten checks were cut to Cohen from February to December 2017, prosecutors said. The first came from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust and the other nine from Trump’s personal account, prosecutors said. Both accounts were controlled by The Trump Organization.

8. Trump and his associates allegedly pressured Cohen amid a federal investigation

According to prosecutors, Trump “and others engaged in a public and private pressure campaign” to ensure Cohen would not cooperate with a federal investigation” after the FBI raided his office and hotel room in 2018. Trump privately told Cohen to “stay strong” and declared publicly that his lawyer would not “flip,” the DA’s office said.

Another Trump-connected lawyer then approached Cohen offering to represent him because he wanted to establish a “back channel of communication” with Trump, prosecutors said. The lawyer also allegedly implored Cohen not to cooperate with law enforcement.

Immediately after Cohen pleaded guilty in August 2018, Trump appeared to have turned against Cohen, posting on Twitter: “If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you don't retain the services of Michael Cohen!”