Why Trump criminal trial is about more than hush money

It’s often described as “the hush money case.”

But former President Donald Trump would not be facing an unprecedented criminal trial – the first ever to involve a past and possibly future chief executive of the United States – if all he had done was pay porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair. Paying hush money on its own isn’t generally illegal.

What Mr. Trump instead has been charged with is orchestrating a cover-up to hide those payments via fake invoices, checks, and ledgers – all to ensure that Ms. Daniels’ story did not become public and affect votes.