Displaying items by tag: hush money

On 15 April Donald Trump became the first former president ever to face a criminal trial. He is accused of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to actress Stormy Daniels (who claims that he had sex with her) before the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege Trump reimbursed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the payments and falsely labelled it as a legal fee. Trump pleaded not guilty and called the case a ‘witch hunt.’ New York judge Juan Merchan has named over forty potential witnesses, including many former associates, including Cohen and Rudy Giuliani, as well as Trump's family members and former employees. Merchan has also warned Trump of potential jail time for disrupting or refusing to attend the trial without a valid reason. In jury selection, many potential jurors are being ruled out because they could not be impartial.  What is not clear is whether this trial will influence the result of November’s presidential election: see