1. The Manhattan Criminal Case
A grand jury has voted to indict Trump after New York prosecutors looked into a $130,000 hush payment made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels. The charges haven’t been made public so far.
According to Ms. Daniels, she and Trump had an affair in 2006. She also claims that, before the 2016 election, his former lawyer gave her money in exchange for her silence on the spicy story.
Trump has always denied they had an intimate relationship. In fact, he describes the indictment in the Stormy Daniels case as “political persecution.”
Meanwhile, the business procedures of his family company, the Trump Organization, are being analyzed by prosecutors. Letitia James, who is currently the New York attorney general, is carrying out a civil investigation (which cannot lead to criminal charges) and has been looking at whether the company committed shady acts like fraud over several decades.
While we don’t know much about the charges in the Manhattan criminal case, it will be the first indictment brought against a former US president.
As for the criminal investigation into the Trump Organization, convictions have already been obtained. The company was found guilty a few months ago of falsifying business records as well as fraud and was fined $1.6 million.
In the civil case, Ms. James has filed a lawsuit accusing Trump and three of his children of deception and fraud. Although Trump tried to delay the trial, a Manhattan judge has denied his bid, stating that the scheduled date of October 2, 2023, is “written in stone.”
