POLITICS
Trump’s criminal trial to get underway: What is he accused of? The Stormy Daniels hush money case explained
Following his failed attempts to delay his first criminal trial, Trump’s first criminal case will begin this week.
After several failed attempts to delay the start of his first criminal trial, this, the first hearing of the ‘hush money case will be held’ against Donald Trump on Monday, April 15. The start of the trial comes more than a year after the former president’s arrest.
In March 2023, the Republican became the first president in the history of the United States to be charged with a crime, while his arrest occurred on April 4 of that same year, after arriving to the Manhattan criminal courts, where he surrendered to the authorities, after pleading not guilty to the charges.
In addition to the ‘hush money’ case, in 2023, Trump was also charged and arrested for the case of classified documents found at his residence in Mar-a-Lago and two more cases about electoral interference in the 2020 presidential elections.
What is Trump accused of?
On 30 March, 2023, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump after an investigation revealed that the former president made payments to adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, during his presidential campaign in 2016.
According to the case presented by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, was responsible for making a payment of $130,000 to Daniels on behalf of the former president. According to Cohen attests, the payment was to cover up an alleged affair between the adult film star and the former president. The adventure would have occurred approximately a decade ago, but the bribery would have been carried out so as not to harm Trump’s presidential candidacy in 2016.
These are all the charges Trump faces
The Republican leader faces 34 charges for ‘Falsification of business records in the first degree’, which is considered a serious crime in the United States and whose penalty could be up to five years in prison.
Here is the indictment from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office with the full arraignment:
Donald J Trump Indictment by Lalo López Navarrete
Since Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, the trial to prove his innocence begins on 15 April.