TRUMP EN JUICIO | ON TRIAL
El exmandatario de 77 años está siendo juzgado por un presunto pago que realizó a la actriz de cine para adultos Stormy Daniels antes de las elecciones presidenciales de 2016 para que esta no revelara los detalles de un supuesto encuentro sexual entre ambos.
Los Zscales alegan que el pago fue un intento de "in/uir ilegalmente" en las elecciones en las que Trump acabó ganando a la demócrata Hillary Clinton.
El expresidente está acusado de 34 cargos que un jurado de 12 miembros deberá valorar en las próximas semanas. La audiencia de este lunes fue convocada para el proceso de elección de los miembros del jurado.
El político y empresario ha tenido que enfrentar una serie de acusaciones en tribunales en los últimos meses por demandas civiles. Sin embargo, el juicio de carácter penal iniciado este lunes será muy diferente.
Stormy Daniels, cuyo nombre real es Stephanie Clifford, asegura que tuvo relaciones sexuales con Trump en 2006 -algo que él niega- y que, a cambio de mantener ese encuentro en privado, recibió un pago antes de las elecciones presidenciales de 2016.
El juicio se centra en el presunto pago que Trump le hizo a su antiguo abogado personal, Michael Cohen. Este asegura que con ese dinero se le ordenó pagar a Daniels US$130.000.
Para los Zscales de Nueva York, esto fue un intento de "in/uir ilegalmente" en las elecciones de 2016.
Si bien los pagos de dinero para mantener un asunto en privado no son ilegales en EE.UU, la Fiscalía de Manhattan alega que Trump cometió un delito al registrar indebidamente el dinero que le pagó a Cohen bajo el concepto de "gastos legales".
Daniels, hoy de 45 años, habló por primera vez en 2011 con la revista In Touch Weekly de la supuesta relación que tuvo con Trump cinco años antes.
Azrmó que conoció a Trump en un torneo de golf en julio de 2006 y que tuvieron relaciones sexuales en una ocasión en un hotel de la zona del lago Tahoe, un área turística de California.
In Touch Weekly Znalmente sacó a la luz las declaraciones de Daniels en 2018, semanas antes de que la ex actriz porno le dijera a 60 Minutes que había sido amenazada luego de la entrevista de 2011.
Daniels aseguró que un hombre se acercó a ella y a su hija en un estacionamiento de la ciudad de Las Vegas y le dijo que "dejara a Trump en paz".
"Ella es una niña hermosa. Sería una pena que le pasara algo a su madre", le habría dicho el hombre.
Daniels reconoció más tarde que aceptó US$130.000 como "pago secreto" de Cohen a cambio de su silencio un mes antes de las elecciones presidenciales de 2016. Aseguró que lo hizo porque estaba preocupada por la seguridad de su familia.
Luego le dijo al programa 60 minutes que se estaba arriesgando a una multa de US$1 millón por romper el acuerdo al hablar en televisión de lo sucedido, pero azrmó: "Es muy importante para mí poder defenderme".
Trump, quien es el virtual candidato republicano para las elecciones de noviembre de este año, es el primer expresidente en enfrentar una acusación penal.
"No tiene precedentes", asegura Alex Keyssar, profesor de Historia y Política Pública en la Escuela Kennedy de la Universidad de Harvard. "No ha habido nada ni remotamente comparable".
Se espera que el juicio se prolongue de seis a ocho semanas, lo cual puede ser una distracción para la campaña electoral de Trump.
Está previsto que en el tribunal de Manhattan testizquen tanto Daniels como Cohen.
El juez del caso es Juan Merchan, magistrado de origen colombiano que el año pasado se hizo cargo de un juicio por fraude Zscal contra la Organización Trump.
Trump ha dicho que el juez lo "odia" y debería apartarse del caso, algo que Merchan rechazó.
A diferencia de los juicios civiles con los que ha lidiado en los últimos meses, en los que su presencia no era estrictamente obligatoria, en este caso tendrá que asistir a las audiencias, según explicaron expertos legales a la BBC.
Si no lo hace, podría emitirse una orden de arresto en su contra.
Sin embargo, el tribunal tiene una cierta discreción para permitir ausencias del acusado.
Pero no asistir a las audiencia sin justiZcación puede resultarle caro a Trump en
ENGLISH
The 77-year-old former president is being tried for an alleged payment he made to adult Hlm actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to prevent her from revealing details of a supposed sexual encounter between them.
Prosecutors allege that the payment was an attempt to "illegally in"uence" the election in which Trump eventually defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The former president is charged with 34 counts that a 12-member jury will assess in the coming weeks. This Monday's hearing was convened for the jury selection process.
The politician and businessman has had to face a series of accusations in courts in recent months over civil lawsuits. However, the criminal trial that started this Monday will be very different.
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had sex with Trump in 2006—a claim he denies—and that, in exchange for keeping that encounter private, she received a payment before the 2016 presidential election.
The trial centers on the alleged payment that Trump made to his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Cohen claims that he was ordered to pay Daniels $130,000 with that money.
For New York prosecutors, this was an attempt to "illegally in"uence" the 2016 elections.
While payments of money to keep an affair private are not illegal in the U.S., the Manhattan District Attorney's o ce alleges that Trump committed a crime by improperly recording the money he paid to Cohen as "legal expenses."
Daniels, now 45, Hrst spoke in 2011 with In Touch Weekly magazine about the supposed relationship she had with Trump Hve years earlier.
She claimed she met Trump at a golf tournament in July 2006 and that they had sex once in a hotel in the Lake Tahoe area, a tourist region of California.
"He didn't seem concerned about it. He was a bit arrogant," she said in response to the interviewer's question about whether Trump told her not to say anything about the night they allegedly spent together.
If true, it would have occurred four months after the birth of Barron Trump, the son the former president has with his wife Melania.
At that time, the magazine did not publish the interview following threats of legal action made by Trump's lawyer, as reported at the time by the CBS program 60 Minutes
In Touch Weekly Hnally brought Daniels' statements to light in 2018, weeks before the former porn actress told 60 Minutes that she had been threatened after the 2011 interview.
Daniels claimed that a man approached her and her daughter in a Las Vegas city parking lot and told her to "leave Trump alone."
"She's a beautiful girl. It would be a shame if something happened to her mother," the man allegedly said.
Daniels later acknowledged that she accepted $130,000 as a "secret payment" from Cohen in exchange for her silence a month before the 2016 presidential election. She claimed she did so because she was concerned for her family's safety.
Later, she told the 60 Minutes program that she was risking a $1 million Hne for breaking the agreement by speaking on television about what happened, but she stated: "It's very important for me to be able to defend myself."
Trump, who is the virtual Republican candidate for the November elections this year, is the Hrst former president to face a criminal accusation.
"It's unprecedented," says Alex Keyssar, professor of History and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School. "There has been nothing even remotely comparable."
The trial is expected to last from six to eight weeks, which could be a distraction for Trump's election campaign.
Both Daniels and Cohen are expected to testify in the Manhattan court.
The judge in the case is Juan Merchan, a magistrate of Colombian origin who last year presided over a tax fraud trial against the Trump Organization. Trump has said that the judge "hates" him and should step aside from the case, which Merchan rejected.
Unlike the civil trials he has dealt with in recent months, where his presence was not strictly necessary, in this case, he must attend the hearings, as explained by legal experts.
If he does not, a warrant could be issued for his arrest.
However, the court has some discretion to allow the defendant's absence.
But failing to attend the hearing without justihcation could be costly for Trump in a jury trial, said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of the West Coast Trial Lawyers association. (BBC)