The trial for alleged hush-money payments involving former President Donald Trump entered its second day in Manhattan on Tuesday, focusing on jury selection.
This trial marks a historic moment as Trump becomes the first sitting or former U.S. president to face a criminal trial.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought the case against Trump, which revolves around payments meant to keep secret his alleged affairs with adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Prosecutors claim Trump orchestrated these payments to avoid negative impact on his 2016 presidential campaign.
The trial unfolds during a presidential election season where Trump, expected to be the Republican nominee, will face off against Joe Biden in November.
Bragg’s office alleges that Trump, indicted by a grand jury in spring 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records, participated in a “catch-and-kill scheme” from August 2015 to December 2017 with his former attorney, Michael Cohen.
Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 related to the hush-money scheme, transferred $130,000 to Daniels’ attorney shortly before the election through a shell company.
Trump then repaid Cohen through monthly checks drawn from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, initially established in New York during Trump’s presidency.
Prosecutors argue that Trump misrepresented these payments as legal consulting fees, leading to false entries in the company’s financial records with intent to defraud and conceal other crimes.
