Former US President Donald Trump is due to appear in a Manhattan court this Thursday, in a hearing in which the judge is expected to set the trial date in the case of payments to buy the silence of the adult film actress Stormy. Daniels, in the middle of the campaign to return to the White House.
If Colombian-born Judge Juan Merchán rejects the latest appeal from the Republican billionaire’s lawyers, and maintains the date of March 25 for the start of the trial, He will be the first former president of the United States to sit on the bench.
So far, the numerous legal fronts facing the former president – who has 91 criminal charges against him – have not hurt his popularity, and polls see him as the favorite in a possible face-off against current President Joe Biden in November. Trump, 77, plans to attend the hearing this Thursday at 9:30 a.m. local time in Manhattan District Court.
The billionaire is accused of 34 counts in connection with the $130,000 payment in 2016 to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. to keep quiet about an alleged extramarital affair from 2006 and the politician has always denied that. The payments themselves are not illegal, but Trump recorded them as “legal fees” in his corporate accounts, the Trump Organization.
Likewise, according to court documents, the tycoon bought the silence of third parties at least two other times. He paid $30,000 to a bouncer at Trump Tower who claimed to have information about the tycoon’s son from an extramarital affair. and another 150,000 to a woman who claimed to be having an affair with the former president.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on April 4 last year, saying he was the victim of a “witch hunt” to prevent him from returning to the White House. The billionaire has not spared criticism of Judge Merchán, who has already filed a new lawsuit against the family company for tax fraud in 2022.
“He hates me,” he said on his Truth Social platform.
Experts do not believe it will be easy for prosecutors to prove the allegations against the former president, so it is uncertain whether he could be sentenced to prison.
The announcement of the fine that Judge Arthur F. Engoron will impose is scheduled for Friday.who was investigating another tax fraud case, and which prosecutors said could rise to $370 million, adding to the more than $80 million he was recently ordered to pay for libel against a writer who accused him of raping her. in the 90s.
dmr