Key players in Trump’s hush money trial

CNN
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Donald Trump’s New York hush money criminal trial begins Monday, more than a year after the former president was indicted in the case.

The trial, which begins with jury selection, is expected to include several prominent witnesses, including those who were close to President Trump during the 2016 election, sources told CNN.

Notable people in this case are:

The former president is accused of participating in an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election and an illegal scheme to conceal negative information, including hush money paid to an adult film star to conceal an affair. ing. President Trump has denied having an affair.

Prosecutors allege that Trump disguised the transaction as a legal payment and allegedly falsified business records multiple times to “promote his candidacy.”

President Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. He pleaded not guilty.

Adult film star Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, received a $130,000 payment days before the 2016 presidential election.

In a documentary released last month, she revealed that she was paid to keep her one-night stand with President Trump from going public in 2006 to protect her husband and daughter.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers then used the release of the documentary to try to block Mr. Daniels from testifying, arguing that it should be the basis for dismissing the charges or delaying the trial. The judge postponed the trial on other grounds, but both were unsuccessful.

The $130,000 payment to Daniels was made by Cohen, then Trump’s personal lawyer, who was sentenced to federal prison for campaign finance violations in the transaction. Mr. Cohen, who is now a key witness, said President Trump directed Mr. Daniels to pay the price.

Mr. Trump and his defense team sought to prevent Mr. Cohen from testifying, citing multiple perjury in other cases, but that request was denied last month.

David Pecker, then-chairman of American Media, which publishes the National Inquirer, was involved in a number of “catch-and-kill” schemes orchestrated on Trump’s behalf, and was involved in a number of “catch-and-kill” schemes orchestrated on Trump’s behalf, including his involvement in dealings with Daniels. He is said to have helped mediate.

According to court documents, Daniels’ representatives contacted AMI in October 2016 to inform them of her intention to go public with the allegations of an affair with Trump. According to court filings under Cohen’s plea agreement, Pecker then contacted Cohen, who then allegedly negotiated the deal.

In another case, AMI agreed to pay model and actress Karen McDougall $150,000 months before the 2016 election for her silence about an alleged affair with President Trump. The payments are not part of the indictment against Trump, but prosecutors are expected to use them to establish a pattern of payments.

Pecker was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony, and AMI entered into a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors.

The day after the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in which President Trump can be heard making lewd comments about the treatment of women, Hope Hicks, then the Trump campaign press secretary, contacted Cohen, according to court documents. I called him to refrain from making any further comments. Allegations of a sexual nature should not be made public.

From there, as an intermediary, Mr. Cohen was involved in at least 10 phone calls that day, some involving Mr. Trump and Mr. Hicks, and others involving Mr. Pecker and another AMI executive. Ta.

CNN previously reported that Hicks was expected to be called to testify, according to a person familiar with the case.

As Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg led an investigation into the former president’s involvement in hush-money payments. The probe was a year-long investigation that Trump inherited from his predecessor, who began it while he was still in the White House.

President Trump has repeatedly attacked Mr. Bragg since his indictment and sought to paint the investigation as politically motivated.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchan, known for maintaining control of the courtroom even when cases garner high profile, will preside over the case.

He has previously been involved in cases related to Trump and his allies, including the Trump Organization tax fraud trial, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case, and the sentencing of Trump’s longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. He is also involved in other incidents.

President Trump has twice called for relief from Marchand’s case while leveling attacks on the judge and her daughter over her political activism against Democratic politicians. Marchand defeated her first motion last year. Another request for emergency relief by President Trump was denied last week after he appealed a lower court’s ruling on presidential immunity and halted the trial to ask the judge to recuse himself from the case.

Mr. Marchand also imposed a gag order on the former president, prohibiting him from speaking about his lawyers, court officials, or the families of prosecutors, lawyers, court officials, and the Manhattan district attorney.

Sidney Kashiwagi and CNN’s Devan Cole, Carla Scannell, Lauren Del Valle, Jeremy Harb, Marshall Cohen and Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.