On Politics

Mon Apr 15 2024

Sudiksha Kochi | Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter

@KochiSudiksha

Hey OnPolitics readers! Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial started on Monday. It marked a first: No former American president has ever been criminally indicted.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, USA TODAY's Aysha Bagchi reported. If convicted, the charges could land the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in prison, but many legal experts say a realistic sentence ranges from probation to as much as four years behind bars.

💸 Start at the beginning: Prosecutors allege Trump reimbursed his former lawyer Michael Cohen for the $130,000 hush money payment through a series of checks, falsely labeling them as payments for legal services.

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🥊 What are prosecutors saying? Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said the case is about falsifying records in order to unlawfully interfere with the 2016 election.

❓How will the case unfold? The trial has started with jury selection, a days- or weekslong process in which both sides will try to suss out potential personal agendas towards Trump.