The 77-year-old is accused of falsifying business records to cover up sex acts.
New York:
Donald Trump appeared in court on Monday as the first former U.S. president to be criminally indicted, a shocking moment for the country as the presumptive Republican nominee campaigns to re-enter the White House.
The scandal-plagued 77-year-old is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a sexual encounter with adult film actress Stormy Daniels to protect his 2016 campaign from negative publicity .
The alleged hush-money matter is just one of four criminal cases facing Trump, considered by some legal observers to be the least serious.
But the very real prospect of Trump becoming a convicted felon and potentially facing prison time has brought unprecedented uncertainty to an already unpredictable election.
The right-wing populist is campaigning, vowing “revenge” on Democratic President Joe Biden, who defeated him in 2020.
Trump said he would testify in the case, which begins at 1330 GMT, an unusual and often risky move for a defendant.
“I’ve been indicted more times than Al Capone, the big gangster,” Trump told cheering supporters at a rally in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Saturday.
“There is absolutely nothing here,” he insists. “There was no misdemeanor, there was no felony, there was no federal crime.”
But before Trump can testify, the trial is set to begin on Monday and will likely go through a long and contentious process of selecting 12 jurors and their alternates.
Trump calls “law”
Ordinary citizens summoned by Judge Juan Merchant must answer a questionnaire that, among other things, checks whether they are members of far-right groups.
The actual charges revolve around highly technical financial laws.
Trump is accused of illegally concealing money transfers to his longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who used the funds to pay Stormy Daniels to speak out against the 2016 campaign The alleged sexual encounters remained silent in the final weeks.
A New York grand jury indicted Trump in March 2023 over payments to Daniels (whose real name is Stephanie Clifford). The former president was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
He denies the charges and is likely to use the expected two-month trial as a key platform to denounce what he calls “legal” and political interference in the election by his opponents.
Trump also claimed he would not get a fair trial in Democratic-dominated New York.
Yet the real estate mogul and longtime reality TV star has used the spotlight as an unlikely campaign boost — casting himself as a victim and tapping into the anger of his supporters to raise money.
Even if he is convicted, he can appeal and will not be barred from continuing to run or even be elected president on November 5.
impact on elections
Trump’s three other criminal cases – centered on his alleged hoarding of top-secret documents in Florida after leaving the White House and involvement in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election – have faced multiple delays.
Trump has repeatedly failed to secure meaningful delays in the New York case, while Merseyside has said he is determined to proceed with the trial.
Last week, a judge extended an existing gag order that prevents Trump from attacking people involved in the trial and expanded it to family members of the judge and the lead prosecutor, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump expanded the scope of the order after slamming Merchant and his daughter in a series of posts on The Truth Society.
“The American people and many voters do think it matters whether a jury concludes that Trump committed criminal wrongdoing,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond.
“This finding could impact how they vote this November.”
In New York, where Trump has spent decades as an entrepreneur, celebrity playboy, politician and now criminal defendant, there is little sympathy.
“I don’t know if he’s going to get a fair trial, but whatever happened, it was his own doing,” said Alberto Vasquez, 45, a paramedic.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
