As of: February 15, 2024, 1:15 p.m
By: Stefan Krieger
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The hearing in the criminal case against Donald Trump over alleged hush money payments to a former porn actress begins in New York.
New York - Former US President Donald Trump will attend a hearing on Thursday (February 15, local time) to set a trial schedule in the New York hush money case against him.
His lawyer announced this on Tuesday.
“President Trump will attend court in New York on Thursday,” Steve Sadow said in his statement.
The hearing, presided over by Judge Juan Merchan, will also address Trump's motions to dismiss the case.
Last year, the judge ruled that the trial would begin on March 25, although that date is pending because of charges against Trump in the federal election interference case.
Trump indicted for hush money payments to former porn star
In New York, Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential candidacy.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Donald Trump will appear in court in New York over alleged hush money payments, according to his lawyer.
© IMAGO/Laura Brett
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accused Trump last year of falsifying internal records of his company, the Trump Organization.
This was done with the intention of concealing the true nature of the payments to his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, who had helped him conceal stories of extramarital sexual relationships.
The case involves payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, former Playboy model Karen McDougal and Dino Sajudin, a former Trump Tower bouncer who claimed to know a story about Trump having a child out of wedlock.
Trump repeatedly claims that he did not have any of the alleged sexual encounters.
Allegation against Trump: 34 counts of falsifying business documents
In total, Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business documents.
The charge is a Class E felony in New York, the lowest level of felony in the state.
It is punishable by up to four years in prison, although there is no guarantee that a conviction would result in a prison sentence.
Since it is a state process, Trump would not be able to pardon himself if he were to become president again.
The prospects for this are not that bad.
Trump is clearly ahead in the polls for the Republican primaries for the 2024 US election.
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However, presidential pardons only apply to federal crimes.
The payments to Daniels and McDougal violated federal restrictions on campaign contributions from corporations and individuals, prosecutors said, and served to "hide damaging information from the voting public."
What does the New York indictment mean for Trump?
The indictment, filed in New York on March 30, 2023, made the Republican the first former US president ever to face criminal charges.
As a result, Trump was also indicted in Georgia and Washington DC for conspiring to defeat his election, and in Florida for hoarding secret documents.
Despite the damage to Trump's reputation and the huge public backlash, the New York case is arguably the least dangerous of Trump's four prosecutions.
While a guilty verdict would give him another historic title as the first ex-president convicted of a crime, it is unlikely that Trump will receive a lengthy prison sentence.
In Georgia, Donald Trump is even threatened with prison
New York court records and newspaper archives show that defendants convicted of falsifying business records are rarely sentenced to prison for that offense alone.
Often the charge is linked to more serious crimes such as grand theft.
By contrast, the most serious charges in Trump's election cases in Washington, DC and Georgia carry maximum sentences of 20 years.
Each of the more than 30 counts of intentionally withholding classified information in Florida carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.
$83.3 million for Donald Trump in the E. Jean Carroll case
Trump was recently fined heavily.
The 77-year-old was sentenced to pay $83.3 million (76.7 million euros) in the libel trial of columnist E. Jean Carroll.
The jury in the civil trial in New York awarded Carroll significantly more than the ten million dollars in damages the author originally demanded for “defamatory statements.”
Lawsuit against Donald Trump in New York for alleged fraud
There is also another judgment pending in New York.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump and the family business named after him, the Trump Organization, for fraud in September 2022.
The Democrat's accusation: The company value is said to have been manipulated between 2011 and 2021.
Trump is said to have inflated his assets in order to get loans more cheaply.
James wants payments of almost $370 million.
However, according to research by the
Daily Beast
news portal , this fine could increase to over $500 million due to failures.
James is also calling for an end to Trump's business in New York: She wants the former president to receive a lifetime ban from the real estate market in the East Coast metropolis.
(skr)