Former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial is set to begin with opening statements on Monday, followed by witness testimony. The trial centers on allegations that Trump falsified his company’s internal records to hide reimbursement payments made to his former fixer and lawyer, Michael Cohen, who arranged hush money payments during the 2016 presidential race. The jury consists of seven men, five women, and six alternates.
Key players in the trial include Donald Trump, the former president and Republican nominee, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Witnesses expected to testify include Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, who went to federal prison for his role in the hush money matter, as well as porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, both of whom received payments related to the hush money scandal.
Also expected to testify are David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, and Hope Hicks, Trump’s former White House communications director. Prosecutors allege that Pecker met with Trump and Cohen to identify negative stories about the former president, while Hicks was involved in efforts to keep allegations of Trump’s marital infidelity out of the media. The prosecution team is led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat in his first term, who inherited the Trump investigation when he took office in 2021.
Trump’s defense team includes attorneys Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, and Emil Bove, who have experience in high-profile cases. Blanche successfully represented Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in a mortgage fraud case, while Necheles previously represented Trump’s company in a tax fraud trial. Bove, a former federal prosecutor, has been involved in several noteworthy cases, including drug-trafficking and terrorism prosecutions.
The judge presiding over the trial is Juan M. Merchan, who also presided over the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial in 2022. Merchan has denied requests by Trump’s lawyers to recuse himself from the case, citing concerns of bias due to his daughter’s political consulting firm’s work with Democrats. Despite these objections, Merchan has expressed confidence in his ability to be fair and impartial. The trial is expected to be closely watched as the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president, with significant implications for Trump and his legacy.
