Donald Trump's first criminal trial is about to begin. How he got here - and what comes next.

By Lukas I. Alpert

Trump is set to be the first ex-president to go to trial on charges he tried to cover up hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels

Donald Trump begins his first day in court to face the first criminal trial ever brought against a former U.S. president on Monday. The case against him essentially revolves around alleged efforts to cover up a hush-money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The former president faces 34 charges of falsifying business records for a series of checks he signed to reimburse his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 he paid to Daniels to keep her from going public with allegations that she and Trump had had an affair.

To understand how these ledger entries have resulted in a historical trial, one has to go back to months after Trump descended a golden escalator to declare his intention to run for president in 2015.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleges that in August of that year, Trump and Cohen held a meeting in Trump Tower with David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer, and hatched a plot for the supermarket tabloid to alert the campaign to potentially damaging stories.

Pecker agreed to be Trump's "eyes and ears," and to buy up the rights to any such stories as necessary and then not publish them, in tabloid dark arts practice known as a "catch and kill," prosecutors said.

Over the next year, the Enquirer paid $30,000 and $150,000 to buy the silence of a Trump building doorman and Playboy Bunny Karen McDougal, who were both shopping stories alleging infidelity by Trump, according to court documents.

Then, in the final months before the 2016 election, Daniels emerged with a story alleging she had had sex with the real-estate mogul in a hotel suite in 2006, when they met during a celebrity golf tournament. Trump has denied the affairs.

In this instance, however, it was decided that Cohen would make the $130,000 payment to Daniels himself, tapping into his home-equity line of credit to cover the cost, prosecutors said. That left open the question of how Trump would pay Cohen back.

The checks

The hush-money payments had so far been legal, but the crime alleged by Bragg stemmed from what came next: the checks paid to Cohen.

To reimburse his lawyer, Trump agreed to pay Cohen $35,000 a month for a year to cover the $130,000 he paid Daniels, $50,000 for an unrelated service, an additional $180,000 to cover any tax liabilities so that Cohen could claim the Stormy Daniels hush-money payment as income, plus a $50,000 bonus.

To cover the money up, prosecutors say Trump and his chief finance officer listed the payments as "legal services rendered," in the Trump Organization's ledger books.

That sleight of hand amounted to a crime of falsifying business records, Bragg said, hitting Trump with 34 counts - one for each of the checks as well as for each misleading ledger entry.

Trump has argued that the charges being brought by Bragg, a Democrat, are politically motivated, as Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, seeks a return to the White House later this year.

What to expect from the trial

The proceedings against Trump in Manhattan begin today with jury selection. That process is expected to take as long as two weeks, as prosecutors and Trump's defense attorneys work to agree on 12 people they think can fairly render a verdict on the case.

A 42-question juror questionnaire focuses on the media consumption habits of any potential jurors, their feelings about the former president and whether they have been involved in any groups or rallies that could be considered pro- or anti-Trump.

Star witnesses expected to testify in the case include Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels and David Pecker. Trump's former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg - who last week was sentenced to five months in jail for perjury in a separate case - is also expected to testify. Trump's former spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, has also been reported to be a possible witness.

The charges Bragg has brought against Trump have been elevated to felonies which means prosecutors will need to argue that falsifying business records was committed in the execution of another criminal act. Legal experts say they believe Bragg will argue that the "catch and kill" payments amounted to violations of campaign-finance laws.

The case is expected to take about six weeks in all. Trump is required to attend in person every day the case is being heard in court.

Courtroom, Act 1

The Manhattan hush money case is just the first of four criminal prosecutors Trump faces, complicating his campaign schedule as the race for the White House heats up.

Trump faces a federal case alleging he incited an insurrection against the U.S. government on Jan. 6, 2021, as part of an effort to overturn the results of the election he had lost to Democrat Joe Biden the previous November. The trial is awaiting a Supreme Court decision on Trump's claim to immunity for any action he may have taken while in office.

Trump also faces separate state charges in Georgia for allegedly conspiring to illegally overturn the 2020 election results. That case has been delayed amid allegations of an improper relationship between the district attorney and the lead prosecutor in the case.

Trump is also awaiting trial in federal court in Florida for allegedly keeping boxes of classified documents after leaving office and refusing to return them to the government when asked. A trial date in this case has yet to be set.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in all cases.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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04-15-24 0920ET

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