Donald Trump's hush money criminal trial moves to opening statements Monday, followed by witness testimony. A jury of seven men, five women and six alternates was selected last week.
The case was filed in an attempt to hide the true nature of the former president's reimbursement payments to former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged hush money payments to silence negative stories about him during the 2016 presidential campaign. The focus is on suspicions that the president falsified internal company records.
Witnesses include Cohen, a porn actor and former tabloid publisher who served time in federal prison for his role in the hush-money scandal and other crimes, including lying to Congress. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass warned potential jurors that he was carrying “what appears to be baggage.”
Introducing the key players in the historic first criminal trial of a former US president.
defendant
donald trump — The former U.S. president and potential Republican candidate used his success as a reality TV star and famous businessman to win the 2016 presidential election and become the 45th president of the United States. The case involves allegations that the company falsified company records to hide the true nature of payments to Mr. Cohen, who helped cover up negative publicity about Mr. Cohen during the 2016 presidential campaign. Mr. Trump has maintained his innocence.
witness
michael coen — Trump's former lawyer and fixer. Once a strong ally of President Trump, he is now a key prosecution witness against his former boss. Cohen worked for the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2017. He later pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations related to hush money arrangements and other unrelated crimes and was sentenced to federal prison.
stormy daniels — Porn actor who received $130,000 from Cohen as part of hush money. Mr. Cohen paid Ms. Daniels to keep quiet about what she claimed was a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump years ago. President Trump denies having sex with Daniels.
Karen McDougall — A former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with President Trump in the mid-2000s. She was paid $150,000 by the National Enquirer's parent company in 2016 for the rights to her article about her alleged relationship. President Trump denies having sex with McDougal.
david pecker — Former publisher of the National Enquirer and longtime friend of President Trump. Prosecutors said he met with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 and agreed to help the Trump campaign identify negative reports about him.
Hope Hicks — President Trump's former White House communications director. Prosecutors say she was arrested during a frenzied effort to hide President Trump's alleged infidelity from the press after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape was leaked weeks before the 2016 election. claims to have had a phone conversation with President Trump. In the tape, Trump bragged about grabbing a woman without her permission in 2005.
prosecutor
Alvin Bragg — Mr. Bragg, a former civil rights lawyer and law professor, is a Democrat serving his first term as Manhattan's district attorney. He took over the Trump investigation when he became president in 2021. He oversaw the prosecution of Trump's company in an unrelated tax fraud case before moving on to prosecute Trump last year.
Matthew Colangelo — A former senior Justice Department official hired by Mr. Bragg in 2022 to lead the Trump investigation. The two previously worked together on Trump-related matters at the New York Attorney General's Office.
Joshua Steinglass — A Manhattan prosecutor for more than 25 years, he has handled some of the office's higher-profile cases, including the 2022 Trump Organization tax evasion conviction and cases involving violent crimes.
susan hoffinger — The head of the district attorney's office's investigative division, who returned to the office in 2022 after more than 20 years in private practice alongside her sister Fran. She worked with Steinglass on prosecuting tax fraud at the Trump Organization.
Trump's lawyer
tod branch Branch, a former federal prosecutor, previously represented former President Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in a mortgage fraud case that led to the case being dismissed. Blanche said the case, brought by the same prosecutors currently in charge of Trump, is too similar to the case that landed Manafort in federal prison and therefore amounts to double jeopardy. succeeded in making the claim.
Susan Necheres Mr. Necheres, a former Brooklyn prosecutor, is a respected New York City defense attorney who represented Mr. Trump's company in its tax fraud trial last year. She previously represented the late Genovese crime family underboss Venello Mangano, known as Benny Eggs, and also represented John Gotti's lawyer Bruce Cutler in the early 1990s.
Emil Bovet — Bove, a star college lacrosse player, was a veteran federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He has been involved in multiple high-profile drug-trafficking cases, including one against the brother of the former president of Honduras, the man who set off a pressure cooker in Manhattan, and the man who sent dozens of mail bombs to high-profile targets across the country. was involved in the prosecution. .
judge
Juan M. Marchan — The judge presiding over the case. He is also the judge in the 2022 Trump Organization tax fraud trial and is overseeing the border wall fraud case against longtime Trump ally Stephen K. Bannon. Marchand twice rejected requests from Trump's lawyers to withdraw from the case. They claim he is biased because his daughter runs a political consulting firm that has worked for Democrats, including President Biden. Mr Machan said he believed in his “ability to be fair and impartial”.
Sisak writes for The Associated Press. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.
