On the 15th (local time), President Donald Trump became the first former U.S. president to stand trial as a criminal defendant.
From this day, he will be on trial for a month on charges of paying hush money to prevent a sex scandal before the 2016 presidential election and manipulating company books.
According to the New York Times (NYT) and CNN, former President Trump arrived at the Manhattan District Court in New York, where the trial was held, around 9:30 am. Before entering the court, he told reporters, “This has never happened before,” claiming, “This is a political indictment.” He added, “This is an attack on America.”
Former President Trump is accused of paying ‘hush money’ through a personal lawyer to prevent former adult film actress Stormy Daniels from revealing a past sexual relationship before the 2016 presidential election. He was also brought to trial in March of last year on 34 charges, including manipulating company records related to that cost.
In addition to this case, former President Trump has three criminal trials remaining. However, this is the only case with a confirmed trial schedule before the November election. Former President Trump is expected to try to postpone this trial until after the election.
CNN has reported that the trial schedule may be extended for up to two months. It takes up to two weeks to select the jury to proceed with the trial. Former President Trump has been dragging out the trial by claiming that the difficultly selected jury is ‘unfair’ and applying for recusal.
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