One of the most massive court dramas ever began with a random meeting at a charity golf event eighteen years ago.
The criminal trial of Donald Trump, the first former president to have one, will begin on Monday. The president is accused of paying porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to silence her about their alleged affair.
Bombshell testimony and dramatic events stemming from years of controversy will fill the six- to eight-week trial.
Witness testimony will focus on claims involving the presumed Republican presidential candidate, including rendezvous in hotel suites, blockbuster TV appearances, and backroom negotiations.
Stormy asserts the affair happened during the first four months after Melania Trump’s delivery of their son, Barron.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s then-fixer, Michael Cohen, allegedly paid Stormy Daniels to silence her about a 2006 sexual encounter they had. This payment and how it was delivered and later characterized as a “legal expense” is at the heart of the lawsuit.
The legal landscape has been constantly shifting over the last four years, and Trump is now preparing to run for a second term. To conceal the hush money payment, 34 charges of felony document fraud have been filed against Trump. A maximum of four years in jail is imposed for each crime.
He insists the prosecution is on a witch hunt and has sworn to testify in his defense despite his denial of all charges.
Because he used the money to aid in his 2016 election campaign, prosecutors will attempt to prove that his otherwise petty offenses are elevated to felonies.
While he gets ready for his probable rematch with President Joe Biden in November, he cannot campaign due to the trial.
Here is a compiled chronology of events surrounding the alleged romance between Trump and Daniels, which sparked the political trial of the century.
