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Former President Donald Trump will go on trial on April 15 for his involvement in a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election, marking the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president. Trump has been attempting, with little success, to postpone the beginning of his first criminal trial for months. He has also made several desperate attempts to put the case on hold permanently. Now that Trump is compelled to leave the campaign road, he will sit down at the defense table in a Manhattan courtroom, where a group of twelve New York jurors will deliberate on whether to declare him a felon before Election Day, ABC News reported. Here are six important things to know before the trial begins.
The lawsuit centers on a hush money payment that adult film actress Stormy Daniels received from Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, to hide an alleged sexual encounter before the 2016 election. Trump disputes the relationship. Daniels (actual name Stephanie Clifford) received a $130,000 payment from Cohen in exchange for her silence, per The Hill. For carrying out the contract, Trump reimbursed Cohen, which Trump’s business recorded as legal costs. The Manhattan district attorney contends that this was illegal. Prosecutors contend that the payment to Daniels was a minor component of a larger “catch-and-kill” operation to suppress unfavorable rumors about Trump before the election. Trump’s payments to Cohen following the arrangement of the hush money deal with Daniels are the basis for his 34 felony charges of falsifying business documents. Pleading not guilty, Trump has denied having an affair.
While several seasoned New York attorneys told USA TODAY they thought Trump may receive a jail sentence if found guilty, others anticipated he would just receive probation. Although Trump would be a first-time, nonviolent felony offender, other defendants found guilty in New York on similar counts have received sentences of several months in prison. Trump would almost definitely file an appeal if found guilty.
