New York:
Donald Trump on Monday will become the first former US president to face criminal trial, a turning point for the country as the November presidential election approaches.
The process of selecting the jury that will decide the case will begin first, with a cast of key figures expected in court as the case develops.
These are the main characters associated with the trial:
-Donald Trump-
Former President Trump's successful 2016 run for the White House is at the heart of the matter.
Prosecutors allege that as he neared victory in 2016, he paid $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an illicit sexual affair Trump had with her in 2006.
That in itself might not have been a crime.
But prosecutors allege that Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen then conspired to cover up the payments, illegally concealing the transactions as legal payments in the Trump Organization's accounts.
– Stormy Daniels –
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claimed in an interview on 60 Minutes that they met in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Utah.
She says they went to Trump's hotel room where they had sex, and the businessman suggested she appear on his hit TV show “The Apprentice.”
Trump denies this ever happened, setting up a potential clash between her and his lawyers, as she is expected to testify.
– Michael Cohen: a rejected insider –
Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, who has never denied his “pit bull” nickname, has become a sworn enemy of the former president and will be the prosecution's star witness.
Michael Cohen paid the $130,000 to Stormy Daniels – at Donald Trump's request, he insists – and he has a federal conviction for the payment.
He is expected to explain the former president's alleged involvement to the jury, but the defense will portray him as untrustworthy if he is convicted of making false statements to Congress.
– The Prosecutor: Alvin Bragg –
Bragg, a self-described “child of Harlem” who fell victim to heavy-handed NYPD tactics as a teenager, went on to study at Harvard and became the first African-American prosecutor in Manhattan in January 2022.
He was elected on the Democratic ticket, inherited the Trump case and was initially criticized for allegedly wanting to bury it – before indicting the former president.
Bragg led the prosecution in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial, which resulted in the group's first criminal conviction in 2022.
– Judge Juan Merchan –
Merchan is a respected magistrate in his sixties, the child of Colombian parents who moved with him to the United States.
He has a reputation among other lawyers for being fair but firm, especially when it comes to the efficient conduct of the proceedings in his court.
The case will not be heard on Wednesday because Merchan will perform his duties at Manhattan's mental health courts, modeled after the city's drug courts.
He has already drawn the ire of Trump with the former president attacking the veteran judge for alleged bias.
Trump then accused Merchan of not being able to guarantee a fair trial because his daughter worked for a campaign organization with ties to Democrats.
That prompted Merchan to extend the silence order, which was put in place to prevent Trump from attacking jurors and court staff, to his own family.
– Trump's lawyers –
Donald Trump's attorneys, Susan Necheles and Todd Blanche, are a pair of seasoned attorneys with experience in white-collar crime.
Educated at Yale Law School and head of her own law firm, Necheles is known for being particularly strict on cross-examinations.
Todd Blanche worked as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan for ten years before starting his career as a lawyer. He left a prestigious law firm in New York to devote himself to defending Trump.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)