At a news conference following Donald Trump’s arraignment, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said his office had “additional evidence” that wasn’t available to his predecessor, something that he said allowed him to bring the case forward now.

“We have had available to the office additional evidence that was not in the office’s possession prior to my time here”, - Bragg said, when asked why he was bringing the case forward now when other prosecutors declined to do so.

“I bring cases when they’re ready… For nine months, Trump repeatedly made false statements on business records. Falsifying business records with intent to defraud and intent to conceal another crime is a felony in New York.

That is exactly what this case is about - 34 false statements made to cover up other crimes. These are felony crimes in New York state, no matter who you are. We cannot and will not normalize serious criminal conduct.

Trump claimed he was paying his then-attorney Michael Cohen for legal services performed in 2017, but that wasn’t true.

Why did Donald Trump repeatedly make these false statements? The evidence will show that he did so to cover up crimes relating to the 2016 election”, - said Bragg.