Trump will make history as the first of four trials gets under way
Ex president could be jailed as he prepares for the election
On Monday morning in room 1530 of the Manhattan Criminal Court, Donald Trump will – not for the first time – make history.
When Judge Juan Merchan calls the case against him, Trump will become the first former US president to go on trial for a criminal matter.
He will become the first presidential nominee to do the same as he is almost certain to face off against Joe Biden for this November’s election.
The trial will be the first of four that Trump faces, an eventuality that is unprecedented in American history.
Should Trump be convicted of falsifying business records, he faces up to four years in prison for each of the 34 counts against him, though he is unlikely to be sentenced for that long.
To Trump’s critics, the trial represents a chance to finally hold him accountable. But the case is far from watertight and Trump has branded it “election interference” by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.
The next two months during the trial are going to be a circus with dozens of police, Secret Service agents and court security officers ensuring that Trump gets in and out each day. New York law means that he will have to be in court, taking him away from the campaign trail at a crucial time in the election.
The case relates to a $130,000 hush money payment made by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, weeks before the 2016 election to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels is expected to testify about her affair with Trump, as will Karen Mcdougal, a former Playboy Playmate who was also paid hush money to keep quiet.
New York criminal defence lawyer Mark Bederow said that the case was a “mistake” because it rested on a legally untested theory.
Mr Bederow said that in order for falsifying business records to be upgraded from a misdemeanour, a lower charge, to a more serious felony, there needed to be an “underlying crime”.
In this case it was making an illegal campaign contribution, a novel approach that hasn’t been prosecuted anywhere before. Then there’s the fact that Cohen is the star witness as he was jailed for three years for lying to Congress about his work for Trump.
“He’s their biggest disadvantage,” Mr Bederow said.
“Trump is like Moby Dick, the target of every Democratic prosecutor in the country. To bring this case with someone like Michael Cohen, it’s a bad judgement in my view.” Yet the strongest card for the prosecution might well be enough to outweigh that – home court advantage.
Mr Bederow said: “Trump being tried in Manhattan is as bad as it can get for him. “Manhattan is a liberal stronghold and Trump is despised in Manhattan. The rest of the county has this curious or comical view of him but anyone who has been in New York for a while sees him as a blowhard and a conman.
“He is going to have a hell of a time getting a fair jury in Manhattan. That doesn’t mean they will be able to pick a jury. They will get 12 people who will say they will put aside their prejudices.
“But does anybody believe that? I think that’s a stretch.” Trump’s other three trials are far more serious and could see him jailed for decades. But they are up in the air, to say the least.
In Florida he is accused of illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents after leaving office, but the judge – who Trump appointed while in office – is dragging her heels and making questionable decisions.
No trial date has so far been firmly set down.
In Georgia, Trump is accused of election interference but the case has been marred by an affair between the top prosecutor and her deputy which led to a mini trial about her credibility.
And in Washington, where Trump is accused of election subversion over his role in the January 6 insurrection, the case is on hold pending a decision by the Supreme Court on whether he has immunity.
Chris Edelson, a presidential scholar at Washington DC’S American University, said that all three trials could be delayed until after the election.
He said: “We’re in extraordinary times in the US. Donald Trump is a man who’s made clear from the beginning of his political career he doesn’t think the ordinary rules apply to him. He wants to rule as a dictator. Part of what it means when you aspire to be a dictator is that the law serves you. He does not believe he should be held to account.”
Edelson said that America “should have a better way as a country to deal with this”, and pointed to the two impeachments against Trump, which were blocked by Republicans.
He said: “In a functioning system he would not be the Republican nominee facing this trial.”
Should Trump win the election despite having been convicted, it will push America into truly uncharted territory.
Edelson said that “no one knows” what will happen and that it was “absurd we have to ask these questions”.
He said: “I think the only issue that matters is whether he wins the election and if he does he’ll do whatever he can to make these things go away.
“At the very least it would have to wait until he leaves office, which by the way he doesn’t plan to do.
“He has made it clear he won’t respect the two-term limit and will just stay in the White House. It’s dizzying.”