Meet the key players in Trump's hush money case
Former President Trump's hush money trial kicked off in New York on Monday, marking the first criminal trial against a former or current U.S. president.
The Manhattan trial began with jury selection and is expected to feature a host of star witnesses, including former allies of Trump and those connected to the 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It comes after weeks of tensions and back-and-forth over an imposed gag order following Trump's series of social media attacks against various expected witnesses and others related to the case.
Meet the key players in the case:
Donald Trump
The former president is accused of illegally covering up a hush money payment made to conceal an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election.
He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with reimbursements to then-fixer Michael Cohen after he paid Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to keep quiet about the alleged affair.
He has pleaded not guilty and repeatedly denied the affair.
The indictment, which was handed down more than a year ago, made Trump the first ex-president to ever face criminal charges. The former president was later charged in three other criminal cases and faces a total of 91 counts in four separate jurisdiction.
Michael Cohen
Cohen, Trump's onetime personal lawyer, is at the center of the case's allegations. He is expected to serve as a key witness against the former president, testifying about payments made to Daniels.
He pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges and was sentenced to three years in prison. The charges were in part related to the payments made to Daniels as part of a nondisclosure agreement, and he claimed he did so at the direction of "a candidate for federal office."
Cohen was paid back by Trump, whose company logged the reimbursements as legal expenses.
The payments made by Cohen were part of a broader "catch-and-kill" scheme to quell negative coverage about Trump before the election, prosecutors argue.
Cohen was first introduced to Trump in 2006 by the former president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., wile working at a law firm. Testifying in Trump's civil fraud trial last year, Cohen said he had "admired" Trump since high school.
When the New York real estate mogul asked Cohen to leave his firm and join the team at the Trump Organization, Cohen agreed and became one of Trump's closest aides.
Amid the fallout of his and Trump's legal woes, Cohen has become one of the former president's most vocal critics.
Stormy Daniels
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she first met Trump in July 2006 at a golf tournament in Stateline, Nev., a town on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
She says Trump invited her to his hotel suite, they had a sexual encounter and he suggested she could be a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice." Trump has repeatedly denied having a sexual relationship to Daniels.
Daniels agreed to tell the story in May 2011 to In Touch Weekly magazine, which did not run the story after Cohen reportedly threatened to sue them. The article was eventually published in 2018, when reports of the alleged affair were made public.
Daniels tried to tell the story again in 2016, prompting the hush money payment by Cohen and the nondisclosure agreement less than two weeks before the 2016 election, prosecutors say.
She later sued Cohen in 2018 to avoid the nondisclosure agreement and later filed separate defamation suits against Cohen and Trump.
She is expected to testify in the trial, which is expected to last about six weeks.
Alvin Bragg
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) was a leading force behind the criminal indictment against Trump, having decided last year to convene a New York grand jury that ultimately decided to charge the former president.
Becoming the first Black district attorney in 2022, Brag inherited the hush money investigation from former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who retired.
Prior to his time in the DA's office, Bragg served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and an assistant attorney general for New York.
Judge Juan Merchan
Merchan is the New York Supreme Court judge overseeing the trial.
Tensions between him and the former president's legal team have ramped up in recent weeks, following a gag order Merchan placed and expanded after Trump attacked his wife and daughter on social media.
Trump has repeatedly claimed Merchan is corrupt, and his legal team has demanded he step aside over his daughter's employment at a firm that works for high-profile Democrats.
Merchan declined the latest effort to recuse himself from trial shortly before it started Monday.
He has years of experience working in the New York City court system and worked as an assistant attorney general in-charge in Nassau County and Suffolk County in the early 2000s. Since 2009, he has served as an acting justice on the state Supreme Court, where he presides over felony criminal trials.
He previously oversaw a criminal tax fraud trial against the Trump Organization, in which the company was fined more than $1 million after being convicted on 17 counts.
Karen McDougal, David Pecker
McDougal, a former Playboy model, is expected to testify in the trial. She claims she had sexual relations with Trump, which Trump has denied.
Pecker, the former chair of American Media Inc., which publishes the National Enquirer, could also testify as a witness.
Prosecutors alleged Pecker, a longtime ally of Trump, would purchase the rights to certain stories potentially embarrassing to him. Pecker and American Media Inc. were accused of participating in a "catch-and-kill" scheme, which included an alleged payment to McDougal for the rights to her story. The company never published McDougal's story.
Trump's legal team: Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles
A former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, Blanche is Trump's lead counsel.
He left his position as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, an elite New York law firm, in April to represent Trump and has experience involving white-collar crimes.
Necheles has been a central member of Trump's legal team in New York in recent years, CBS News reported. She has represented organized crime figures and several Democratic politicians, the outlet added.
Trump aides
A few of Trump's former White House aides could potentially be witnesses at the trial.
Those include former White House communications director Hope Hicks, who was once one of Trump's closest aides and served as his campaign press secretary ahead of the 2016 election. She was interviewed by prosecutors for the case last year, and her attorney previously said she was unaware of the payments.
Former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway could also testify, Axios reported, along with Rhona Graff, who served as senior vice president at the Trump Organization.
Date: | |
Tag: | Donald Trump |
Topics
Filter
-
Former Trump lawyer: Trump 'can't take the stand' in hush money case
Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb joins Meet the Press NOW as the Supreme Court weighs former President Trump’s immunity claim and prosecutors in the former president’s criminal case in Manhattan call two new witnesses to the stand.NBC News - Politics - Donald Trump -
Comparing Donald Trump's hush money trial to John Edwards, Bill Clinton cases
Donald Trump's hush money trial is underway, and it's drawing attention to past high-profile litigation involving political stars and salacious affair allegations.ABC News - Top stories - Donald Trump -
Trump lawyer on hush money case: 'I don’t have hopes really that high'
Alina Habba, an attorney for former President Trump, signaled she does not have high hopes for the former president’s success in the New York hush money trial. “But I don't have hopes really that high at this moment that the New York courts will ...The Hill - Politics - Donald Trump -
Trump trial: Defense attorneys begin cross-examination of David Pecker
The New York criminal trial of Donald Trump resumed with testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.CNBC - Business - Donald Trump -
Trump had Stormy Daniels' and Karen McDougal's contact information saved, longtime assistant testifies
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, has testified about discussions with ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and payments to Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.NBC News - Top stories - Donald Trump -
Testimony ends for the day in Trump hush money trial
The prosecution continued to question the ex-publisher of the National Enquirer David Pecker as Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom Thursday for his criminal hush money trial.CNN - Top stories - Donald Trump -
Testimony resumes in Trump "hush money" trial
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker will be back on the stand Thursday in Donald Trump's New York criminal trial. The judge in the case has yet to decide if the former president will be held in contempt for violating a gag order. ...CBS News - Top stories - Donald Trump -
New testimony in Trump "hush money" trial
Testimony continued Thursday in former President Donald Trump's criminal "hush money" trial. David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, detailed alleged efforts to suppress stories involving adult film star Stormy Daniels. CBS ...CBS News - Top stories - Donald Trump -
'The boss' featured at Trump hush-money trial
Former magazine publisher David Pecker detailed how he helped bury stories for Trump, who he called “the boss”.BBC News - Top stories - Donald Trump -
Day 8 of Trump New York hush money trial
Ex-tabloid publisher David Pecker and Donald Trump's former assistant Rhona Graff were among those who testifed Friday in the hush money trial.CNN - Top stories - New York
More from The Hill
-
Riot police drag away protesters at University of Texas as Gaza tensions flare
State troopers in riot gear moved on Monday afternoon to clear out students attempting to occupy a quad at the University of Texas at Austin. Dozens of protesters were arrested on site, escalating tensions that began on Wednesday when the ...The Hill - Politics -
Jill Stein accuses police of assaulting her at protest
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein on Sunday alleged police assaulted her and other demonstrators shortly before being arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. “Basically, the police ...The Hill - Politics -
US finds Israeli military units violated human rights
Welcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story US finds Israeli military units violated human rights The State Department has determined that at least five Israeli ...The Hill - Politics - Israel -
Evening Report — Protests continue to spread on college campuses
A quick recap of the day and what to look forward to tomorrow {beacon} Evening Report © AP Pro-Palestinian protests escalate on college campuses Hundreds of students have been arrested on college campuses across the country as ...The Hill - Politics -
FCC fines wireless carriers
Presented by Microsoft — {beacon} Technology Technology PRESENTED BY The Big Story FCC fines major mobile carriers $200M The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a fine totaling $200 million to the nation’s four largest mobile ...The Hill - Politics