Does Trump face jail and how long will the Stormy Daniels hush money trial last? The answers to all your questions

Donald Trump will become the first former president to go on trial Monday when he goes to court in Manhattan to face felony charges in connection with the hush-money scheme to keep porn star Stormy Daniels quiet during his 2016 presidential campaign.

The eyes of the world will be on downtown New York when the 77-year-old presumptive Republican nominee appears in court and sits in court as a panel of 12 jurors is selected.

Trump’s lawyers have filed a series of motions seeking to delay the trial. But the former president has repeatedly lost in these efforts by setting the start date of April 15.

Trump faces 34 felony charges in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who accuses the former president of using his business records to conceal the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels to make an alleged affair.

It is the very first criminal trial against a former American president. Jury selection begins Monday, overseen by Judge Juan Merchan.

“Jury selection is largely luck. It depends on who you get,” Trump said at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.

Below, DailyMail.com has broken down all the details and answered all the pressing questions about the case:

THE BACKGROUND

Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006, shortly after Melania gave birth to their son Barron.

It happened when the two met at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.

In an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired March 25, 2018, Daniels said she and Trump had sex once. She also claims that she beat him up with a magazine that had him on the cover.

The former president has denied the affair, claiming the trial is a politically motivated “witch hunt.”

THE PAYMENT

On January 12, 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in October 2016, a month before the presidential election, to keep her from discussing the alleged affair and thus Trump’s chances in the presidential election to harm.

Prosecutors allege that Trump reimbursed Cohen in a series of installment payments processed by his company that prosecutors allege were fraudulently disguised as corporate legal fees in violation of New York law.

Cohen, Trump and then-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg reach an agreement that Cohen will be reimbursed a total of $420,000 for the Daniels payment, prosecutors allege.

That includes a $60,000 bonus, $50,000 for other expenses and $180,000 to cover taxes – which would be made through 12 monthly payments of $35,000 each.

Cohen submitted invoices for the $35,000 payments, according to Trump Organization corporate records.

COSTS

The 34 counts include 11 counts on the checks to Cohen, 11 on the monthly invoices Cohen submitted to Trump’s company, and 12 involve entries in Trump’s trust ledger.

WILL TRUMP BE AT THE TRIAL?

Under New York state law, Trump is required to attend his entire trial in person.

The trial is expected to last about six weeks to two months and Trump’s court filing will hamper his ability to campaign for president.

The court will reserve every day of the week except Wednesday, meaning Trump can use the middle of the week on weekends for campaign events.

Although the race will not be televised, photos of Trump in the courtroom will likely be allowed.

In the past, TV cameras have been allowed in the courthouse hallway and Trump has paused to address them.

WHO WILL TESTIFY?

Daniels and Cohen have already indicated that they will testify for the prosecution.

Other witnesses could include Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who received a $150,000 payment from the National Enquirer for rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump, which the publication did not publish in an action known as a ‘catch and roll’. -kill.’

Former Trump aides, including his longtime aide Rhona Graff, his former director of Oval Office operations Madeleine Westerhout and former White House aide Hope Hicks, were also able to testify.

David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, is also expected to testify.

Trump says he will testify in his own defense.

“Yes, I would absolutely testify,” he said at Mar-a-Lago on Friday.

THE ADDITIONAL PAYOUTS

Prosecutors are expected to look into two other hush-money deals involving The National Enquirer and Donald Trump.

The first concerns the tabloid’s payment of $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed to know that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock. The National Enquirer later determined the claim was untrue.

The second involves McDougal, Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1998, who wanted to sell her story about an affair with Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Trump denies having an affair with her.

Bragg and his team will argue that these incidents prove that the payout to Daniels was not a one-time event, but part of a broader effort to influence the 2016 election.

Trump’s lawyers have said he made the payment to Daniels to save himself, his company and his family from embarrassment, and not to help his campaign.

TRUMP’S DEFENSE

The former president’s defense team will likely try to portray Cohen as a Trump-hating liar.

The two men, who were once very close, had a falling out years ago.

Trump’s lawyers are also expected to point out that Cohen has pleaded guilty to a variety of federal crimes, including for his role in hush money payments.

In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court to five counts of tax evasion, false statements and campaign finance violations, stemming from his payment to Daniels.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, which began in May 2019 and ended a little early in November 2021, spending part of his sentence in home confinement during the COVID pandemic.

WHAT PUNISHMENT WILL TRUMP RECEIVE?

If convicted, Trump could face up to four years in prison for each of the 34 charges against him.

Under New York law, falsifying business records is usually a misdemeanor, but it can become a misdemeanor if there is an “intent to defraud,” including the intent to “commit another crime or assist another crime or to hide’.

Bragg argues that Trump concealed a federal campaign finance violation, a crime under state election law and tax fraud.

WILL TRUMP GO TO JAIL?

If convicted, Trump could face up to four years in prison in New York on each charge, for a maximum of 136 years.

Since it is a state crime, only the governor of New York can pardon him. That office is currently held by Democrat Kathy Hochul.

But given Trump’s age — he is 77 — his lack of prior convictions and his status as a former president who may run for president again, the judge could give him probation.

Most first-time offenders in non-violent cases are often sentenced to probation.

There are also the added complications of his Secret Service detail. Facilities would have to be added to accommodate his protective details if he were to be imprisoned.

He could be placed under house arrest at one of his homes, including Mar-a-Lago, which is at the center of his secret documents case.

WHAT OTHER TRIALS IS TRUMP SEEN?

Multiple.

There are two federal lawsuits: one over efforts to overturn the 2020 election and one over alleged mishandling of White House documents.

There is also a state lawsuit in Georgia looking into his attempt to overturn the election results there.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The hush money case is the only one so far with a concrete trial date, as Trump has tried to delay the others.

His federal election case is on hold until the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s motion to dismiss — he calls presidential immunity — which could take until June.

The scheduled May trial date for his documents case was postponed after Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon postponed deadlines in the case.

The Georgia case also still does not have a trial date, although prosecutors have requested it begin in August.