Trump is indicted for violating the Accounting Act in connection with a payment of $130,000 from Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen to porn actress Stormy Daniels in 2016.
The so-called pocket money case is one of four criminal cases against the 77-year-old former president. The case is referred to by legal experts as the least serious.
Selection of jury
The first thing that will happen when the trial begins in New York on Monday is that a jury will be selected. The process can take several days because hundreds of potential candidates must be evaluated. The group will be whittled down to just twelve jurors and six alternates.
Potential jurors must answer a number of questions from judge Juan Merchan, including whether they have participated in far-right groups.
The entire trial may last eight weeks. Trump himself is scheduled to be present when the case begins on Monday. The former president denies the charges, but risks a maximum of four years in prison if he is convicted.
The accusations
The payment of the hush money took place just before the US presidential election in 2016, which Trump won. Daniels allegedly received the money to keep a lid on the fact that she and Trump had had sex in a hotel ten years earlier.
The indictment against Trump is about the fact that he allegedly tried to hide the fact that he transferred money to Cohen, after the payment to Daniels. The ex-president is charged with 34 cases of falsification of business documents.
Since the goal is said to have been to get Daniels to keep quiet about the incident in 2006, the court case is called “the bribery case”.
«Sleaze bags»
Trump denies the two ever had sex. At the alleged time, he had been married for a year and a half to his third wife, Melania, who later became the first lady of the United States.
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at both Daniels and Cohen, who is now set to testify against Trump in the trial. They are both “sleaze bags” who have cost the United States dearly with their lies, Trump recently claimed.
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2024-04-15 09:34:35