Donald Trump’s criminal New York hush money trial begins Monday, more than a year after the former president was indicted in the case.
The trial, which will begin with jury selection, is expected to feature several high-profile witnesses, including those who were in Trump’s inner circle around the 2016 election, sources have told CNN.
Here are the notable people in this case.
The former president has been accused of taking part in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an unlawful plan to suppress negative information, which included a hush-money payment made to an adult film star to hide an affair. Trump has denied the affair.
Prosecutors allege that Trump allegedly disguised the transaction as a legal payment and falsified business records numerous times to “promote his candidacy.”
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has pleaded not guilty.
Adult-film star Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, received a $130,000 payment just days before the 2016 presidential election.
She shared in a documentary released last month that she accepted the payment to keep her one-night stand with Trump in 2006 from becoming public to protect her husband and daughter.
Trump’s attorneys subsequently used the release of the documentary to try to bar Daniels from testifying and argued that it should be grounds to dismiss the indictment or delay the trial — both unsuccessful challenges, though the judge did delay the trial on separate grounds.
The $130,000 payment to Daniels was made by Cohen, then Trump’s personal attorney, who landed in federal prison over that transaction for breaking campaign finance laws. Cohen, now a critical witness,…
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