Trump’s trial will not be televised.
Donald Trump goes on trial Monday on charges he paid hush money to conceal an extramarital affair ahead of the 2016 presidential election that put him in the White House.
He will become the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial when jury selection begins next week.
Here are the key questions ahead of the landmark trial:
What is Trump accused of?
As Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election looms, adult film star Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 sexual tryst with Trump silence.
The Wall Street Journal disclosed the payment in January 2018 by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen.
When Cohen was reimbursed, prosecutors made the case central by concealing the payments as “attorney’s fees” in Trump Organization accounts.
Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor and now a lecturer at Pace University, told AFP that prosecutors said Trump “concealed the reasons for making these payments… which were clearly made to influence voters.”
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. The case is pending in state court.
How is the defense going?
After the scandal broke, then-President Trump denied any relationship with Daniels, insisting he knew nothing about the payment and eventually claiming it was to thwart an extortion attempt.
He has pleaded not guilty and has attacked the trial as a political persecution.
Trump’s lawyers will question the credibility of the recall of Cohen, an ally-turned-foe, and insist the case has no merit.
Prosecutors will rely on two other similar payments to prove that the Trump campaign had used money to cover up embarrassing affairs.
Who will decide the case?
Trump’s fate will be decided by a panel of twelve jurors, backed by six alternates who were randomly selected from Manhattan residents.
Each will be asked about their views on Trump and their ability to remain impartial, and challenges can be raised by the defense, prosecutors and the judge. This process may last up to two weeks.
Jurors, who must reach a unanimous verdict, will remain anonymous for their own protection.
Will Trump go to jail?
In theory, if Trump is found guilty, he could be jailed, with the 34 felony counts carrying a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
However, given the 77-year-old Trump’s age and lack of criminal record, the judge has the discretion to impose only a fine or impose an alternative sentence including probation.
A lack of remorse could work against him, but legal challenges to any verdict could delay it. A conviction would not derail Trump’s presidential bid.
How long will the case last?
The court said it would take about six to eight weeks, with hearings taking place every working day except Wednesday, meaning sentencing, if found guilty, could come before the November poll.
Various legal challenges and maneuvers could delay that timeline, and Trump’s lawyers have stepped up appeals and challenges in recent weeks, having secured a delay in the trial from March 25 to April 15.
Under New York state law, Trump’s trial will not be televised, unlike other major trials such as that of O.J. Simpson, who died Thursday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
