Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump is set to go on trial Monday, becoming the first-ever former president in the country’s history to face a court hearing on the criminal charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money.
The trial will commence in a New York court for paying $130,000 to an adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 for the sexual encounter he had with her in 2006.
The 77-year-old was indicted in March last year for the first time for falsifying records and mentioning them as legal expenses.
The payments were also made to several people via attorney Michael Cohen to silence them for extramarital sexual encounters with Trump.
Trump’s encounter with the star took place after he tied the knot with Melania Trump in 2006.
The trial in New York County Criminal Court will commence at 9:30am EDT (13:00 GMT) and is likely to end at 4:30pm (20:00 GMT).
Bruce Fein, an American lawyer specialising in constitutional and international law, told Al Jazeera: “We don’t have any history in 235 years of a former president being prosecuted in this way. The closest we got was President Richard Nixon in Watergate, but he was pardoned by President Ford, so he wasn’t convicted.”
The former president is bidding for the White House once again as the polls are scheduled in November where will be facing Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump is also facing three other indictments that include election interference in Georgia, retaining classified documents after leaving the Oval Office and instigating supporters to Strom the Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, when he lost the presidency to the 81-year-old Biden.
