The act of paying money to cover up information about his relationship with porn star Daniels made Mr. Trump the first former US president to be prosecuted, tried and at risk of prison.
On April 15, Donald Trump made history in the United States, becoming the first former president to be tried for allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels and concealing unfavorable information during his 2016 campaign. This was an allegation made in an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
The former president was indicted in March 2023. The indictment, unsealed in April of that year, listed 34 counts of falsifying business records against Trump. While falsifying business records is a misdemeanor, it is considered a Class E felony if committed to conceal another crime. Class E is the lowest level of felony in New York, punishable by up to four years in prison.
Mr Trump has denied the charges. He must now appear in Manhattan criminal court for at least six weeks of trial, eating into valuable campaign time over an alleged 2006 affair.
Donald Trump (left) and porn star Stormy Daniels. Photo: AFP
Daniels, the subject of Mr Trump’s accusations, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was born in 1979 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Daniels has lived with her mother since her parents divorced when she was 4 years old.
According to Daniels, she first met Mr. Trump in 2006 at a charity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, California, between the states of California and Nevada. Mr. Trump was then a 60-year-old real estate tycoon, married to his third wife Melania, and Daniels was 27. Daniels said Mr. Trump invited her to dinner, wearing pajamas when he received her.
Daniels said Trump also arranged to meet her again at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, California in July 2007 to discuss the porn star's possible appearance on the reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice , of which he was a producer.
In June 2015, Trump announced his candidacy for president of the United States. Two months later, Trump met with David Pecker, chairman and CEO of American Media Inc. (AMI), at Trump Tower in New York. Pecker agreed to act as the “eyes and ears” for Trump’s campaign by seeking out and uncovering negative stories about him and attempting to suppress or spin them before they were published.
This is where Mr Trump began his “catch and kill” plan, a term used in the US media industry when a newspaper or magazine signs a deal to pay someone for exclusive rights to a story. However, after “catching” the story, they decide not to publish it, or “kill” it, because they do not want the unfavorable information to become public.
According to Bragg's indictment, AMI assisted Trump in paying to suppress unfavorable information, including paying $130,000 to Daniels through his trusted lawyer Michael Cohen, paying $30,000 to a Trump Tower doorman who accused him of having an illegitimate child, and paying $150,000 to a woman who claimed to have had an affair with Trump, believed to be former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
The payment to Daniels was advanced by Mr. Cohen with his own money. On October 28, 2016, a few days before the US voters went to the polls, Daniels signed a non-disclosure agreement and received $130,000. The agreement was signed by Cohen with Keith Davidson, Daniels’s lawyer. The agreement had a space for Mr. Trump to sign, but the former president never put his pen to it.
In January 2017, Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg agreed to reimburse Cohen $420,000, including payments to Daniels, a $60,000 bonus, $180,000 in tax relief and $50,000 in other expenses.
This amount is divided equally over 12 months, each month Cohen receives $35,000 from the Trump Organization and is listed by the corporation as legal expenses.
Former US President Donald Trump speaks in Grand Rapids, Michigan on April 2. Photo: AFP
In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported on the payments to Daniels. Cohen stressed that the money was his personal and that he had not been directed by Trump. US authorities opened an investigation in August of that year. Cohen later pleaded guilty, admitting his role in the two deals with McDougal and Daniels, claiming that Trump had directed him.
Mr. Trump has always denied any relationship with Daniels, saying that the money Cohen paid the actress was "just a simple personal transaction" and that the lawyer who made the transaction was responsible for any mistakes, not him.
"If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly recommend not using the services of Michael Cohen!", Mr. Trump wrote on X at the time.
In August 2019, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance began an investigation and determined that Trump’s company had misreported payments to Cohen. Vance’s term ends in January 2022 but he has not brought any charges against Trump.
Bragg, who succeeded Vance, continued the investigation and in early 2023 sent evidence to a New York grand jury to consider whether to indict Trump. The grand jury voted unanimously in late March to indict the former president.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan will preside over the trial. A 12-member jury will impeach Mr. Trump.
Mr Trump could argue that Cohen acted on his own initiative when he paid Daniels. He could argue that the purpose of silencing Daniels was to keep him and his family out of the public spotlight over the alleged affair, not to help his campaign.
He could also try to undermine Cohen's credibility as a witness, such as pointing out that Cohen admitted to lying to Congress in 2018.
If convicted on 34 counts, the former president could face a maximum sentence of 136 years in prison, according to CNN legal analyst Laura Coates. The judge will decide whether Trump will serve the sentences concurrently or consecutively. However, New York imposes a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for this Class E crime.
Additionally, because Mr. Trump has no criminal record and the prosecution is not violent, Judge Merchan could be lenient and impose only a short prison sentence or simply probation with certain conditions, Coates added.
Mr Trump is almost certain to appeal if convicted. The former president has repeatedly called the case a politically motivated "witch hunt" aimed at thwarting his bid for the White House in 2024.
Nhu Tam (According to Reuters, ABC News )
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