Trump hush money trial begins in New York: Why is the case so significant?
Al Jazeera
Trump is facing a highly anticipated criminal trial for alleged hush money, including $130,000 paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Former United States President Donald Trump is set to face his first criminal trial at a New York court on Monday over hush money allegedly paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to his election win in 2016.
In March last year, prosecutors filed an indictment that made Trump the first former president of the US to face a criminal trial. They allege that the payments, falsely recorded as legal expenses, were used to bury allegations that might have hurt him during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Here is what you need to know about the case, key witnesses, and what this means for the presidential hopeful.
The hush money case revolves around allegations that Trump paid off several people during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence their claims that he engaged in extramarital sexual encounters.
Trump is alleged to have made these payments through lawyer Michael Cohen. The key evidence is a $130,000 payment made to Daniels, who was ready to go public about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006, a year after he married Melania Trump.
