Donald Trump to go on trial in hush money case from 25 March: What’s it all about?

Donald Trump’s legal troubles have finally caught up with him. The former US president will go to trial on criminal charges — a first in American history — in the hush-money criminal case involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels and the Playboy model Karen McDougal.

New York court Judge Juan Merchan denied Trump’s bid to dismiss the charges against him, kicking off the proceedings by saying: “Defendant’s motions to dismiss have been denied. We’re moving ahead to jury selection on 25 March.”

This means that Donald Trump, who is the current Republican frontrunner for the 2024 presidential elections, will be on trial amidst his campaigning. In fact, Trump’s legal team had been seeking to push the actual trial to until after the 5 November vote.

Importantly, this is one of four criminal cases against the former president.

But what exactly is this case? Who is Stormy Daniels? And what does this mean for Donald Trump’s race to the White House?

What is the hush money case all about?

The case centres on hush-money payments made in 2016 to two women, who alleged that they had extramarital encounters with Trump, who has denied their accounts of his infidelity.

In March 2023, the former president was indicted on criminal charges on allegations that Trump reimbursed his then ex-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen $130,000 for payments he had made to Stormy Daniels. It was alleged that Trump had concealed these as legal payments.

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Moreover, there are two other alleged “hush money” schemes, in which Cohen allegedly conferred with Trump on reimbursing American Media CEO David Pecker for a “catch-and-kill” payment to conceal another set of affair allegations by Karen McDougal, and an alleged payment made to cover up a false story about Trump having a child out of wedlock with a former employee.

What payments and to whom?

Stormy Daniels, a former porn star whose actual name is Stephanie Clifford, claims that she first met Trump in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada.

Trump, who had become a reality star on the strength of the hit TV show The Apprentice, was not accompanied by his wife Melania and their newborn son Barron.

Trump first met Daniels on the golf course and then later in the gift room where they snapped a picture together. After dinner, they went to Trump’s penthouse at Lake Tahoe where he offered to put her on his TV show. They then slept together, Daniels has claimed.

Trump and Daniels met twice more – though without getting intimate – and she eventually stopped taking his calls. According to CBS, by 2011, Daniels was attempting to sell her story to In Touch magazine.

The story never ran after Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer and fixer, threatened a lawsuit when asked to comment.

In October 2016, when Trump was running for president, the Washington Post published the Access Hollywood tape. The next day, Cohen agreed to pay Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence about the alleged affair with Trump, as per CBS.

Cohen also offered Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for a similar deal. McDougal has told several media outlets that she had an affair with the former president for about 10 months and broke it off in April 2007. It was once again in 2016 when Trump became the Republican nominee that the National Enquirer tabloid, paid her $150,000 for exclusive rights to her story. Cohen supressed that story too with confirmation from the publishing house.

Cohen and federal prosecutors have claimed Trump’s company paid Cohen $420,000 as reimbursement for the $130,000 payment to Daniels and to cover bonuses and other supposed expenses. The company classified those payments internally as legal expenses.

However, prosecutors allege that this is tantamount to falsifying business records.

What happens now?

Now, with the judge dismissing Trump’s request for dismissal or delay, a trial will begin on 25 March with jury selection. According to Judge Merchan, there will be 18 jurors including six alternates. And the case will run in Manhattan from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays, but will not take place on Wednesdays, or on 29 April.

If found guilty by the jury, charges against Trump are “class E” felonies, which are punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to four years in prison per offence. This means Trump could face up to $170,000 in fines and 136 years in prison if he were convicted on every count. However, legal experts believe he won’t face prison time since he’s a first-time offender.

However, for Trump the bigger problem is the White House race. When asked how he would campaign while being on trial, he said he plans to be in court during the day and campaign at night.

Reporter: How do you plan on campaigning while you’re in court?

Trump: I’ll do it in the evening pic.twitter.com/2cXEgEryas

— Acyn (@Acyn) February 15, 2024

But can Trump be president if he’s convicted in this case? The short answer is yes, as the US constitution does not address if a person can be barred from serving as president if they have a criminal record or have spent time in prison.

With inputs from agencies