Former US President Donald Trump faces his first criminal trial in a New York court on Monday over alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the run-up to his 2016 election victory.
In March last year, prosecutors filed an indictment that made Trump the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial. They allege that the payments, which were falsely recorded as legal fees, were used to bury allegations that may have harmed him during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Here’s what you need to know about the case, the key witnesses, and what it means for the presidential candidate.
What is the hush money case about and what is Trump accused of?
The hush money case centers on allegations that Trump paid several people during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence their claims that he engaged in extramarital sexual encounters.
Trump is said to have made these payments through the lawyer Michael Cohen. The key evidence is a $130,000 payment to Daniels, who agreed to speak publicly about a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, a year after he married Melania Trump.
He is also accused of facilitating $150,000 in hush money payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal over allegations of an affair and $30,000 to a Trump Tower bouncer who claimed to be telling a story about a child that Trump had fathered.
Although the payments themselves are not illegal, Trump is accused of violating federal campaign finance laws by failing to disclose funds that were supposed to be used to improve his election chances and instead accounting for them as “legal fees.”
Trump now faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the payments in this criminal case in New York state.
When and where should the trial against Trump begin?
The trial begins on Monday, April 15, at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1:00 GMT).. Today’s proceedings, which will take place at the New York County Criminal Court in New York City, are expected to end at 4:30 p.m. (20:00 GMT).
Why did this experiment spark so much interest?
This is the first time a former US president has been prosecuted for a crime.
“We have not had a history of a former president being prosecuted in this way in 235 years. The closest we came was President Richard Nixon. However, in Watergate, he was pardoned by President Ford, so he was not convicted,” Bruce Fein, an American lawyer specializing in constitutional and international law, told Al Jazeera.
Trump has been indicted in three additional criminal cases since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed the hush money indictment in March 2023, but these have yet to be formally opened.
Amid multiple criminal and civil cases he faces, Trump continues to campaign for a second term in the 2024 presidential race while leading the polls in hopes of beating incumbent President Joe Biden and into the white return home.
Who is the judge presiding over the case?
Judge Juan Mercan is presiding over the case. A 12-member jury will decide whether Trump is guilty, while Merchan will decide on any penalties.
Starting Monday, the jurors from New York will be shortlisted within a week. Potential jurors are randomly selected from voter rolls and other government records and then given a questionnaire. The prosecution and defense may each exclude 10 people from the jury pool.
Experts say it could be a difficult process to find jurors who don’t already have an opinion about the businessman-turned-politician.
Questions on the list approved by Merchan include whether potential jurors have attended a pro-Trump rally or campaign event, whether they follow Trump on social media and whether they have feelings about how he was treated in the hush money case.
How long is the process expected to take?
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, although that “depends on how open and candid the witnesses are,” Fein said.
If Trump takes the stand, which he probably won’t, it would also lengthen rather than shorten the case, Fein added.
Trump is scheduled to be in court Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Will Trump’s trial be televised?
No, New York State prohibits almost all audio and video coverage during court hearings.
Judges can make an exception, but Judge Merchan has a history of not allowing cameras in his courtroom. Photos and videos may only be taken before or immediately after the procedure.
Who are the key witnesses in the case?
While prosecutors have not released their official witness list, key expected witnesses will include Daniels, McDougal and Trump’s former lawyer Cohen.
Cohen, who pleaded guilty last year and served a federal prison sentence, is now a witness for the prosecution.
Another key witness expected in the case is David Pecker, who until 2020 was CEO of American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer tabloid. He is said to have been Trump’s eyes and ears for damaging stories in the run-up to the presidential election.
American Media paid McDougal and the Trump Tower bouncer in exchange for exclusive rights to their stories, giving the company the power to suppress them. American Media escaped prosecution in exchange for its cooperation in the campaign finance investigation that led to Cohen’s guilty plea and a prison sentence.
What can we expect from the defense?
Trump denies ever having an affair with Daniels and claims the payment was made to protect his family from false accusations, not to influence the election.
The defense could also continue its strategy from previous trials of portraying such cases as politically motivated.
What happens if Trump is convicted?
If convicted, each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of four years, although only a fine or probation is possible. If there are multiple prison sentences, the judge decides whether they will be imposed simultaneously or consecutively.
Experts say a prison sentence is likely given Trump’s comments and behavior since the case.
“Usually one of the very, very important considerations in the decision to incarcerate or not is the remorse of the defendant. “How likely is it that the defendant would relapse if he wasn’t punished very severely,” asked Fein. “I do think that given his character it would be very unlikely that he would not serve at least some time in prison if convicted.”
However, even in the case of a prison sentence, there is usually a gap between a conviction and a sentence. Trump’s legal team would almost certainly appeal any decisions related to the two, delaying the prospect of him spending time behind bars.
Will this hurt or help Trump’s election chances?
According to the US Constitution, Trump can seek the presidency even if he is convicted. Additionally, polls of Republican primary voters show that the majority of them would support Trump as the party’s nominee even if he were convicted of a crime.
Experts say that may not be the case if there is an actual conviction.
“I think there would be a portion of people who would take things more seriously at this moment. He would be a convicted felon, and those words carry some weight for some voters,” Craig Green, a professor of law and government at Temple University, told Al Jazeera.
As the trial continues, it could also affect his ability to campaign.
The court appearance is likely to cause scheduling problems for the Republican nominee, especially with other trials also expected to begin in the next few months.
What other tests will Trump face?
Since the hush money indictment, Trump has been indicted in three additional criminal cases.
One of them is the misuse of secret documents in Florida, which was alleged in June 2023. Two others, filed in August 2023, concern attempts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in which thousands of his supporters attempted to overturn the results of the election that favored Biden had won, to overturn.
The judges have yet to set a start date for these other trials. Prosecutors have suggested an Aug. 5 start for the Georgia case, and Judge Aileen Cannon had previously suggested a May start for the confidential documents case.