Trump's secret trial: what you need to know as jury selection begins Monday

NEW YORK (AP) Donald Trump will make history as the first former president to be tried on criminal charges when his hush money case opens Monday with jury selection.

The case will force the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to juggle campaigning and sitting in a Manhattan courtroom for weeks to defend himself against charges involving a scheme to bury allegations of marital infidelity that arose during his first White House campaign in 2016.

The case carries enormous political ramifications because it is potentially the only one of four criminal cases against Trump that could reach a verdict before voters decide in November whether to send him to the White House.

Here's what you need to know about the silence affair and the accusations against Trump:

WHAT IS THIS BOX ABOUT?

The former president is accused of falsifying internal Trump Organization records as part of a scheme to bury damaging stories that he feared could damage his 2016 campaign, especially as the Trump's reputation was suffering at the time over comments he made about women.

The allegations focus on bribes paid to two women, porn actor Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said they had extramarital sex with Trump years earlier, as well as to a Trump Tower doorman who claimed to have a story about a child he claimed. Trump had it out of wedlock. Trump claims none of the alleged sexual encounters took place.

Former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 and arranged for the publisher of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid to pay McDougal $150,000 in a known journalistically questionable practice known as catch-and-kill in which a publication pays for exclusive rights to someone's story. without the intention of publishing it, whether as a favor to a celebrity or to gain leverage over the person.

Prosecutors say the Trump Company reimbursed Cohen and paid him bonuses and additional payments, all of which were falsely recorded in the Trump Organization's records as legal fees. Cohen separately pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law in connection with the payments.

WHAT ARE THE FEES?

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. The charge carries up to four years in prison, but it will ultimately be up to the judge whether he will spend time behind bars if convicted.

The charges relate to a series of checks written to Cohen to reimburse him for his role in paying Daniels. These payments, made over 12 months, were recorded as legal expenses in various internal company records.

To win on the felony charge, prosecutors must show that Trump not only falsified or caused a false seizure of business records, which would be a misdemeanor, but that he did so with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs' office said Trump was trying to cover up violations of federal campaign finance laws, an unusual legal strategy that some experts say could backfire.

HOW WILL JURY SELECTION WORK?

The process of selecting the 12 jurors, plus six alternates, will begin with Judge Juan M. Merchan gathering dozens of people into his courtroom to begin eliminating people because of potential bias or other reasons they cannot be used. The judge said he would excuse anyone who indicates by show of hands that they cannot serve or cannot be fair and impartial before calling groups of those remaining in the jury box to respond to 42 questions. Potential jurors will be known only by their numbers, with the judge ordering their names kept secret from everyone except prosecutors, Trump and their legal teams.

Among the questions potential jurors will be asked: whether they follow the former president on social media, have ever worked for a Trump organization and have ever attended a Trump rally or anti-Trump organizations or rallies and whether Potential jurors are supporters or followers from afar. -right-wing groups, such as the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, whose members were part of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, or the far-left collective known as name Antifa, which resists fascists. and neo-Nazis, especially during demonstrations.

WHO IS EXPECTED TO TESTIFY?

Cohen, a Trump loyalist turned critic, is expected to be a key prosecution witness because he was the one who orchestrated the bribes. Before testifying before the grand jury that filed the indictment last year, Cohen said his goal was to tell the truth and insisted he was not seeking revenge, but said Trump should be held accountable for his dirty deeds. Cohen served prison time after pleading guilty in 2018 to federal charges, including campaign finance violations, for arranging the payments to Daniels and McDougal.

Other expected witnesses include Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford. Daniels alleges she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006 that she didn't want, but didn't say no. Trump says this never happened.

WHAT WILL ASSET DEFENSE BE?

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and called the affair an attempt to damage his 2024 presidential campaign. Trump has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment and that it was intended to prevent Daniels from making the alleged encounter public. But Trump said in 2018 that it had nothing to do with the campaign.

Trump's lawyers will likely attack the case by trying to undermine the credibility of prosecution witnesses like Cohen and Daniels. Trump called both men liars, testing the limits of the silence imposed by the judge. He seeks to put an end to the president's inflammatory rhetoric on the matter. Trump's lawyers are expected to paint Cohen as a crook and point to his conviction for several federal crimes as well as his disbarment to try to persuade jurors that he can't be believed.

Trump recently posted a photo on social media of a written statement from Daniels from 2018, in which she denied having a sexual relationship. Shortly after, Daniels recanted his statement and said a sexual encounter had taken place. She said her refusals were due to a non-disclosure agreement and that she signed the statement because the parties involved made it seem like I had no choice.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER CASES?

Trump's three other criminal cases have been mired in legal battles and appeals, which could mean jurors won't hear about them until after the November election.

The 2020 election interference case brought by special counsel Jack Smith remains unresolved as Trump maintains his claim that he is immune from prosecution for actions he took in the White House. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on the issue in late April.

The other case filed by Smith accuses Trump of illegally maintaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. The trial was scheduled to begin in May, but the judge heard arguments last month to set a new trial date and has yet to do so.

No trial date has been set in the Georgia case accusing Trump and his allies of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election defeat in that state. Prosecutors have suggested the trial take place in August, but defense attorneys are now asking an appeals court to consider whether Fulton County Prosecutor Fani Willis should be disqualified from prosecution because of a romantic relationship she had with a former high-ranking prosecutor who recently withdrew from the case. .

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all three cases and says he did nothing wrong.

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