THE KEY PLAYERS

DONALD TRUMP

The former US president is campaigning to return to the White House this year. He will become the first president in history to face a criminal trial from April 15 in New York, where he is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors allege he violated election laws by falsifying the records.

STORMY DANIELS

The porn star says she slept with Trump after they met at a golf tournament in 2006 – a claim he has always denied. She was paid $US130,000 ($A196,000) by Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen to keep quiet on the eve of the 2016 US presidential election.

KAREN McDOUGAL

The former Playboy model says she had a 10month sexual relationship with Trump in 2006 and 2007, an allegation he has also rejected. Months before the 2016 election, she was paid $US150,000 ($A226,000) by

American Media, Inc. (AMI) for her story, which was not published.

DINO SAJUDIN

The former Trump Tower doorman (below) claimed to have information about Trump fathering a secret love child. He was paid $US30,000 ($A45,000) by AMI in November 2015 but it did not report the allegation.

MICHAEL COHEN

Trump’s former lawyer and fixer who made the payment to Daniels. He was sentenced in 2018 to three years behind bars over crimes related to the hush money scheme, and has since become a witness against Trump.

DAVID PECKER

The AMI chief executive (below) met with Trump in August 2015 to offer his help to “catch and kill” negative stories about the presidential candidate. AMI was fined $US187,500 ($A283,000) by the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign laws with its payment to McDougal.

DYLAN HOWARD

An Australian journalist who was AMI’s chief content officer and editorin-chief of The National Enquirer, the company’s tabloid masthead. He signed the contract with McDougal and helped orchestrate Daniels’ agreement with Cohen.

KEITH DAVIDSON

The lawyer (below) who represented Daniels and McDougal to secure their six-figure payments.