Trump's historic criminal trial begins in New York court today

The historic trial of Donald Trump, who will be the first former US president to stand trial in a criminal case, begins today in New York, USA, UNN reports citing the BBC.

Details

Trump is accused of falsifying his business records to hide a hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels, a former adult film star, shortly before the 2016 election.

According to CBS News, the trial is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. local time (16:30 a.m. Kyiv time).

If found guilty, the 77-year-old Trump faces a maximum of four years in prison, but he can avoid jail time and be fined. He has pleaded not guilty.

Trump's historic trial will take place against the backdrop of his presidential campaign and could eventually lead to the presumptive Republican nominee becoming a convicted felon months before voters head to the polls in November.

"It's unprecedented," said Alex Keyssar, a professor of history and public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School. - "There has never been anything remotely like this.

The trial, which will begin with jury selection on Monday, is expected to last six to eight weeks and will focus on the hush money Trump paid to his former aide Michael Cohen.

Cohen, 57, claims that he was ordered to pay Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump, which prosecutors called an attempt to "illegally influence" the 2016 election.

Hush money payments are not illegal. However, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office claims that Trump committed a crime by misrepresenting the reimbursement to Cohen as legal fees.

In total, he is accused of 34 criminal offenses related to falsifying business records in the first degree. In order to reach a verdict, all 12 jurors must agree on whether Trump is guilty or innocent of a particular charge.

The court in Manhattan is expected to hear testimony from a number of prominent characters at the heart of the case, including Daniels and Cohen, Trump's personal lawyer who was imprisoned in part because of the scandal.

The experts were divided on the convincing nature of the prosecution's case, which envisages a new legal approach to bringing charges of a serious crime related to falsification of business documents.

Trump has made several unsuccessful attempts to postpone the jury trial and move it out of Democratic-dominated Manhattan.

His fiery remarks about the case, which he has repeatedly called politically motivated, prompted the judge to impose a gag order that prohibits him from publicly commenting on people involved in the case, including witnesses. The order was extended after Trump directed his online attacks at the judge's daughter, calling her a "rabid Trump hater.

Trump's campaign stated that the gag order was unconstitutional and violated his rights to freedom of speech.

Addendum

This criminal case is just one of four that Donald Trump is facing this year. But this, as noted, may be the only trial that will take place before his rematch in the 2024 elections with US President Joe Biden.

Experts say that Trump, who is accused in the first such case, is unlikely to go to jail even if he is found guilty. Even if he did, under US law, he could still hold the presidency. But his conviction would be the first time a person of his stature would run for president as a major party candidate, said expert Alex Keyssar.

"What's remarkable about this is that it doesn't seem to bother a significant portion of the electorate," said Keyser, noting that Trump's popularity has not suffered as a result of the criminal charges.

But the potential court drama will put him in the center of the news, with the election only a few months away, the newspaper writes.

And this increased attention, as noted, means that any minor news from the court - good or bad for Trump - could play a role in the race between the former and current president, said Georgetown University professor Hans Noel.