NEW YORK — Opening the hush money case on Monday, with jury selection, is Donald Trump, who will become the first former president to face criminal charges.
The case would require the presumed Republican presidential nominee to balance weeks of court appearances in Manhattan to defend himself against accusations of marital infidelity that surfaced during his 2016 first campaign for president.
It is the only one of the four criminal charges against Trump that might result in a decision before voters decide in November whether to return him to the White House, and it has significant political repercussions.
The following information pertains to the charges against Trump and the hush money case:
The former president is charged with fabricating internal Trump Organization documents as part of a plot to suppress negative news that he believed would harm his candidacy in 2016. This accusation is especially serious given that, at the time, Trump’s remarks about women were negatively impacting his reputation.
The allegations center on payments made to two women who claim to have had extramarital affairs with Trump years ago: porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal. Another person who claims to have information regarding a kid he believes Trump may have fathered out of wedlock is a doorman at Trump Tower. Trump claims that none of these reported sex dates are real.
The National Enquirer supermarket tabloid’s publisher paid McDougal $150,000 and Daniels $130,000 thanks to Trump’s former fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen. This is part of a dubious journalistic practice known as “catch-and-kill,” in which a publication pays for exclusive rights to someone’s story with no intention of publishing it, either as a favor to a celebrity subject or to gain leverage over the person.
Trump Will Be First Ex-President On Criminal Trial. Here’s What To Know About The Hush Money Case
Cohen was paid incentives and additional payments by Trump’s company, according to the prosecution, and all of these payments were fraudulently recorded in Trump Organization records as legal fees. Cohen has separately entered a guilty plea to breaking federal campaign finance law in relation to the payments.
Thirty-four felony counts of manipulating business records are brought against Trump. The charge carries a maximum four-year prison sentence; however, the judge will ultimately decide whether or not he serves time in prison if found guilty.
The counts are connected to many checks issued to Cohen as payment for his assistance in clearing Daniels’ debt. These payments, spread over a year, were noted in several internal business documents as legal costs.
Prosecutors must prove that Trump intended to commit or hide a second crime in addition to falsifying or causing business records to be filed falsely, which would be a misdemeanor, to prevail on the felony accusation.
Although the additional offense was not included in Trump’s indictment, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has subsequently stated that evidence indicates his activities were intended to hide tax and campaign finance violations on both a state and federal level. Some experts say it’s an unconventional legal tactic that can backfire.
Judge Juan M. Merchan will summon a large number of people into his courtroom to start the process of selecting 12 jurors plus 6 alternates. The goal is to exclude candidates who cannot serve due to suspected prejudices or other reasons. Before sending groups of the remaining jurors into the jury box to answer 42 questions, the judge stated that he would excuse anyone who showed by a show of hands that they could not serve or be fair and impartial. The only way potential jurors will be identified is by number since the judge has mandated that only prosecutors, Trump, and their legal teams will be aware of their identities.
Trump Will Be First Ex-President On Criminal Trial. Here’s What To Know About The Hush Money Case
Potential jurors will be questioned about a variety of topics, including whether they follow the former president on social media, whether they have ever worked for a Trump organization or attended a rally, and whether they support or follow far-right organizations or groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, whose members were part of the pro-Trump crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, or the far-left group known as Antifa, which stands up to fascists and neo-Nazis, especially during demonstrations.
Given that he was the one who oversaw the payoffs, Cohen—a former Trump supporter turned critic—is anticipated to be a crucial prosecution witness. Cohen stated that his objective was “to tell the truth” and that he is not seeking retribution, but he did state that Trump “needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds” before testifying before the grand jury that delivered the indictment last year. After entering a guilty plea in 2018 to federal charges involving violations of campaign finance laws for orchestrating the payments to Daniels and McDougal, Cohen was sentenced to prison.
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is one of the other anticipated witnesses. Daniels claims that in 2006, she had an unwanted but consenting sexual encounter with Trump. Trump claims it never took place.
Trump has blasted the lawsuit as an attempt to harm his chances of winning the presidency in 2024 and denied any wrongdoing. Trump has admitted to paying Cohen back and stated that the purpose of the payment was to prevent Daniels from disclosing the alleged encounter to the public. However, Trump claimed in 2018 that it was unrelated to the campaign.
It is probable that the legal team representing Trump would attempt to discredit prosecution witnesses like Daniels and Cohen to attack the case. In an attempt to circumvent the judge’s gag order, Trump called the two of them liars. This aims to reduce the president’s divisive remarks regarding the case. To try to convince jurors that Cohen cannot be believed, Trump’s attorneys are anticipated to portray Cohen as a con man and bring up his conviction for several federal offenses in addition to his disbarment.
Recently, Trump shared a photo of Daniels’s 2018 written statement on social media, in which she denied having a sexual relationship with him. Daniels quickly denied making the claim and admitted to having a sexual encounter. She claimed that a non-disclosure agreement was the reason for her denials and that she felt compelled to sign the statement because the individuals concerned “made it seem like I had no choice.”
Trump Will Be First Ex-President On Criminal Trial. Here’s What To Know About The Hush Money Case
Due to court battles and appeals, Trump’s three other criminal matters will likely remain unsettled until after the November election.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference case is still pending, as President Trump continues to argue that his conduct inside the White House exempts him from prosecution. The US Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on the case in late April.
In his other lawsuit, Smith is accused of illegally keeping secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence. Although the trial was supposed to start in May, the court still needs to set a new trial date after hearing arguments last month.
The Georgia lawsuit, which charges Trump and his associates of plotting to reverse their loss in the state’s 2020 election, has to schedule a trial. Lawyers are now asking an appeals court to examine whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the prosecution due to a romantic relationship she had with a former top prosecutor who withdrew from the case, despite the prosecution’s suggestion that the trial takes place in August.
Trump has entered a not guilty plea in all three cases and maintained his innocence.
SOURCE – (AP)
