Understand the criminal charges against Donald Trump in the USA

The first criminal trial of a former president of the United States begins this Monday (15), with jury selection in New York, where former President Donald Trump faces charges from the Manhattan district attorney related to bribery payments in money to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016.

This is the first of four criminal cases that will be tried by Trump, also the likely presidential candidate of the Republican Party in the 2024 elections. CNN compiled a timeline of key events leading up to the historic trial.

Case chronology

  • AUGUST 2015
    Former President Donald Trump meets with then-American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker at Trump Tower, prosecutors say, where Pecker agrees to be the “eyes and ears” of the Trump campaign and flag any negative stories for then-Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
  • SEPTEMBER 2016
    Donald Trump reportedly discussed a $150,000 bribe, allegedly to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, with Michael Cohen, who secretly recorded the conversation. McDougal alleged that she had an extramarital affair with Trump in early 2006, which he denied. “So how much do we have to pay for this? One hundred and fifty,” Trump can be heard saying on the recording.
  • OCTOBER 7, 2016
    The Washington Post releases a 2005 “Access Hollywood” video in which Donald Trump uses vulgar language to describe his sexual approach to women with then-host Billy Bush. The fallout from the “Access Hollywood” video prompts Trump's inner circle to do damage control on any other potentially negative publicity, such as an alleged story of his affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, according to prosecutors.
  • OCTOBER 27, 2016
    According to prosecutors, Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to her lawyer through a shell company in exchange for her silence about an affair she allegedly had with Donald Trump in 2006. That amount of $130 thousand is separate from the $150,000 paid to Karen McDougal. Trump has publicly denied having any affair and denied making the payments. Prosecutors say Daniels first took her story to AMI, whose executives took the story to Cohen on Trump's behalf. According to prosecutors, Trump instructed Cohen to delay the payment as long as possible, telling him that if they delayed it until after the election, they could avoid paying it.
  • NOVEMBER 8, 2016
    Donald Trump secures election to become the 45th president of the United States.
  • FEBRUARY 2017
    Prosecutors say Michael Cohen met with Donald Trump in the Oval Office to confirm how he would be reimbursed for Trump's bribe payment Cohen made to Stormy Daniels.
    A month earlier, Cohen worked out the repayment plan with the Trump Organization's then-chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, who memorized the calculations in handwritten notes on Cohen's bank statement, according to court documents.
    Under the plan, Cohen would send a series of cold notes requesting payment for legal services he provided under a retainer agreement and would receive monthly checks for $35,000, totaling $420,000, to cover the payment to Daniels , his taxes and a bonus, prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors also allege there was never a retainer agreement.
  • JANUARY 2018
    The Wall Street Journal reports on Michael Cohen's bribe to Stormy Daniels in 2016.
  • APRIL 2018
    On April 5, 2018, Trump responded “no” when asked by a reporter on Air Force One whether he was aware of Michael Cohen's cash payment to Stormy Daniels. The reporter continued: “So why, why did Michael Cohen do this if there was no truth to her allegations?” Trump responds: “You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my lawyer and you will have to ask Michael.”
    Justice Department officials later confirmed they are investigating Cohen days after the FBI raided his home and office. Trump tells his former lawyer not to turn against him in social media posts as Cohen investigation heats up.
  • MAY 2018
    Trump offers an explanation for the transactions surrounding the bribe money scheme. Prosecutors are expected to introduce the tweets as evidence at trial, although Trump has fought to prevent the jury from seeing these and other posts he wrote when he was president.
  • AUGUST 21, 2018
    Michael Cohen pleads guilty in Manhattan federal court to two counts of making illegal campaign contributions, violating federal campaign finance laws, among other crimes.
    Cohen directly implicates Donald Trump in the scheme he admits he orchestrated to pay off Stormy Daniels on Trump's behalf. He also says that the scheme had “the main objective of influencing the election”. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, which he served behind bars, and under house arrest. Cohen's statement prompts the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to launch an investigation into the irregular payments.
  • JULY 2019
    Federal prosecutors in Manhattan close their probe into the role of Trump Organization officials in the bribery scheme, declining to bring charges other than Michael Cohen.
    A judge reveals FBI records related to the investigation that reveal Trump insiders like Hope Hicks were on the phone with Cohen and Donald Trump in October 2016, following the release of the “Access Hollywood” video apparently linked to Stormy Daniels, from according to the documents.
  • AUGUST 2019
    The Manhattan District Attorney's Office subpoenas the Trump Organization and AMI in connection with its investigation into the bribe payments.
  • JANUARY 1, 2022
    Then-Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. refuses to seek a grand jury vote on any charges against Donald Trump before leaving office. Newly elected District Attorney Alvin Bragg takes office after running on a platform promising to focus on Trump investigations.
    A month later, two Manhattan prosecutors leading the investigation into the former president resigned after Bragg refused to allow them to pursue charges against Trump.
Stormy Daniels
  • DECEMBER 5, 2022
    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announces that Matthew Colangelo – who previously worked on the state attorney general's civil fraud investigation into the Trump Organization's finances – will join the DA's office to cover the “most sensitive white collar investigations and high-profile” of the office, including investigations into Trump and his finances.
  • JANUARY 23, 2023
    Alvin Bragg convenes a grand jury to hear the irregular payments case against Donald Trump. Over the next three months, AMI CEO David Pecker, Michael Cohen, former Trump White House advisers Hope Hicks and Kellyanne Conway testified before the grand jury.
  • MARCH 30, 2023
    A Manhattan grand jury indicts Donald Trump, making him the first current or former US president to be criminally charged in the country's history. The indictment remains confidential pending Trump's summons.
  • APRIL 4, 2023
    Donald Trump appears in a New York State criminal court in Manhattan and pleads not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in a historic arraignment hearing.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump in New York court during court hearing on the Stormy Daniels case
  • MARCH 15, 2024
    Judge Juan Merchan agrees to postpone Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York, scheduled to begin March 25, after federal prosecutors turned over more than 100,000 records to the parties in response to a subpoena from Trump.
  • MARCH 25, 2024
    Judge Merchan rules that the trial will now begin on April 15th with jury selection. Merchan also rejects Donald Trump's allegations accusing the Manhattan District Attorney's Office of prosecutorial misconduct related to the last-minute tranche of documents turned over by federal prosecutors.

Source: CNN Brasil

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