The porn star, doorman and disgraced lawyer turned star witness: Who’s who in Trump’s hush money case?
On Monday 15 April, Donald Trump made history as the first current or former president ever to be criminally prosecuted in America, as he went on trial in Manhattan on charges of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to an adult film star before the 2016 presidential election.
The trial comes more than a year on from the landmark day when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought a historic 34-count indictment against him, years after his office began investigating the former president’s financial statements.
Though the former president is charged with falsifying business records, Mr Bragg alleges that this was only part of a wider “catch and kill” scheme that Mr Trump engaged in to suppress negative stories as he campaigned – successfully – for the White House in 2016.
The historic trial may last up to two months and features testimony from several key players involved in the case.
Among them is former publisher of The NationalDavid Pecker who agreed to help the then presidential candidate suppress stories, adult film star whose alleged affair is central to the case – and a former doorman of Trump Tower who spilled what he claimed to be one of the former president’s biggest secrets.
