An obscure election law in New York State, rarely prosecuted over the past five decades, has been dusted off by Manhattan prosecutors and elevated to a prominent role in the criminal trial of Donald Trump for allegedly falsifying documents related to to the payment of hush money during the 2016 election campaign.
The law — Section 17-152 of the state election code — makes it a crime for two or more people to “conspire to unlawfully promote or prevent the election of any person to public office.” Trump will not be charged under that statute, which has apparently been used only a few times in cases related to state or local elections, although it is a key factor in his case.
