NEW YORK – donald trumpThe Manhattan criminal trial in Manhattan has reached its third week of testimony and there are only a few key witnesses who have yet to testify.
There is Stormy Daniels, the porn actress who accepted hush money in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign to keep quiet about her story of having sex with Trump a decade earlier. There is michael cohen, the Trump intermediary who made this payment and who should be crucial to the prosecution. And there are several employees at the Trump family company who helped the then-president reimburse Cohen.
Trump, the first American president to face criminal prosecution, is accused of 34 crimes related to these refunds: the Manhattan district attorney’s office says he coordinated the falsification of documents related to the refund.
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The exact order of witnesses is unclear, but the trial is moving quickly and the prosecution could conclude in just over two weeks. Daniels could testify later this week, coming face to face with Trump, who for years has attacked her.
Trump has pleaded not guilty and denied having sex with Daniels. If convicted, he could face probation or up to four years in prison. He will not testify as part of the prosecution’s case; it is unclear whether he will later take a stand in his own defense.
Here’s what else you should know:
– The charges of false records: Prosecutors say Trump, 77, falsified records to cover up Cohen’s reimbursement for the payment to Daniels, instructing his company to describe the payments as “legal expenses” from a retainer agreement. The expenses and the settlement were fictitious, prosecutors say.
– I hope Hicks speaks: Trump’s former press secretary and White House communications director on Friday described the deep anxiety that gripped the Trump campaign following the revelation of the “Access Hollywood” tape in October 2016. In nearly three hours on testimony, Hicks also described concerns about a 2016 article in The Wall Street Journal, published days before the election, about Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. McDougal’s story was bought by The National Enquirer’s parent company, only to be buried.
– A gag order ruling is pending: Judge Juan M. Merchan on Thursday held the second hearing in the trial over whether Trump had violated a gag order barring him from attacking witnesses, jurors, court staff and others. Days earlier, Merchan fined Trump $9,000 for nine violations and threatened him with arrest if he continued to violate the order.
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