Understand Trump’s trial for bribing a porn actress

The 1st criminal trial against former President of the United States Donald Trump began on Monday (April 15, 2024), in New York. It is expected to last around 2 months. The accusations weigh on Trump for allegedly bribing porn actress Stormy Daniels during the election campaign that led him to the presidency in 2016 so that she would not disclose an extramarital affair between the two.

The procedure began with the selection of the jury, seeking to compose a panel of 12 jurors and 6 substitutes. On Friday (19 April), the judge in the case in New York, Juan Merchan, announced that the panel had been constituted. As a result, the initial declarations of the process can begin on Monday (April 22).

Find out what Trump’s path will be like until his final sentence:

Trump is accused of manipulating internal records from his company, the Trump Organization, to cover up payments made to his lawyer, Michael Cohen, who acted to conceal the former president’s alleged extramarital affairs, including those involving Stormy Daniels.

Cohen allegedly made a $130,000 payment to Daniels in October 2016. Later, while running the White House, Trump allegedly reimbursed Cohen in a series of installment payments processed through his own company. This maneuver would aim to avoid a possible sex scandal in the final weeks of his presidential campaign.

Prosecutors, led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, claim that Trump committed fraud by disguising these payments as corporate legal expenses, which constitutes a violation of New York law.

In the State, falsifying business records is considered a misdemeanor, but if this falsification is done with the intention of committing another crime, it becomes more serious – which is the case of the former president.

Prosecutors say the payment made to Daniels constituted an illegal contribution to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, violating federal and state election laws. Furthermore, the prosecution seeks to convince the jury that the Republican tried to circumvent New York tax law by manipulating records to avoid paying taxes.

The Republican pleaded not guilty. Trump and his lawyers maintain that the payments made to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses and were not linked to an attempt to cover up an extramarital affair.

The former president’s defense team has already tried to close the case, arguing that it was motivated by political reasons, but the judge did not accept the attempt. Furthermore, the magistrate issued a gag order (“gag order”in the English expression) to Trump, prohibiting him from making public comments about possible witnesses and other parties involved in the process.

Trump & Justice

This is the 1st of 4 criminal cases involving the former president to come to trial, coinciding with Trump’s efforts to return to the White House for a second term in the November elections. The Republican is also a defendant in other US states for attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat against Joe Biden and for withholding classified documents.

Read the criminal cases in which Trump was indicted:

Eligibility

Regardless of whether he is convicted, Trump will be able to run in the presidential elections in 2024. This is because US law determines that candidates must meet only 3 requirements to be eligible:

• be born in the USA;
• US resident for at least 14 years;
• be at least 35 years of age.

The Constitution of the United States determines that a candidate can only be prevented from running for President if he has been impeached – during his term, 2 cases were opened against Trump in the Chamber but he was acquitted by the Senate –, has already been president for 2 terms, or has been convicted of rebellion against the country.

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This report was produced by journalism intern Fernanda Fonseca under the supervision of assistant editor Ighor Nóbrega.