Ophélie Artaud, with AFP / Photo credit: Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP
A first in American history. This Monday, Donald Trump is expected in New York criminal court for the opening of his trial in the “Stormy Daniels” affair. The 45th President of the United States was appearing in a case involving payments intended to buy the silence of former porn star Stormy Daniels. This is all you need to know at the time of the opening of this trial, which could shake up the presidential election next November.
What is Donald Trump accused of?
To understand the Stormy Daniels affair, we have to go back to 2006. During a golf tournament organized in the western United States, Donald Trump met Stormy Daniels, real name Stéphanie Clifford, actress and director of pornographic films . After the event, the billionaire – already married to Melania Trump – and the young woman allegedly had a consensual sexual relationship. The story will remain secret for 12 years: in 2018, the former porn actress revealed their brief affair during an interview with CBS. Donald Trump, who has since become President of the United States, completely denies the facts.
But what the courts criticize Donald Trump for are these 34 falsifications of accounting documents from his company, the Trump Organization, which were intended to hide, under the cover of “legal fees”, payments intended for Stormy Daniels. For $130,000, the latter agreed to keep quiet about their sexual relationship. Everything was allegedly paid by Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, to the former porn actress a few days before the 2016 presidential election, to buy her silence. Michael Cohen assures that his boss was aware of this payment.
In addition to the falsification of his company’s documents, prosecutor Alvin Bragg sees it as electoral fraud since the goal of the operation was to conceal from citizens information potentially harmful to the Republican candidate.
What does the former American president risk?
In theory, Donald Trump risks a prison sentence, and faces up to four years in prison for the most serious charges. For the moment, the billionaire has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Concretely, the objective of this trial will be to determine what the former president knew about these payments when they took place.
What consequences for the presidential campaign?
Donald Trump continues to present himself as a victim in this affair. “Our enemies want to take away my freedom because I will never, ever let them take yours,” he insisted a few days ago, during a meeting in Pennsylvania.
The consequences for the presidential election will depend on the outcome of the trial. If he is convicted, Donald Trump could still be a candidate in the November 5 election against Joe Biden, which would be completely unprecedented in American history. Conversely, if he is found not guilty, it would be a major victory for the Republican candidate.