Trump Faces First-ever Criminal Trial of Former US President
2024-04-16
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1The first criminal trial of a former American president opened Monday in New York City. Donald J. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records.
2Trump also is considered the likely Republican Party nominee for president in November's general elections in the United States.
3Jury selection is the first step in the trial process.
4Over the coming days, the defense and the prosecution will consider possible jury candidates.
5The final group will number 12 jurors and six possible substitutes, or alternates.
6Trump is accused of hiding a $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels just ahead of the 2016 election.
7Prosecutors say the money was provided in exchange for her silence about a reported sexual interaction between them years earlier.
8The indictment also alleges that model and actor Karen McDougal had a months-long relationship with Trump while he was married.
9She says a newspaper publisher paid $150,000 for the rights to her story but did not publish it, reportedly at Trump's request.
10The charges also involve a payment to a Trump Tower employee.
11The doorman reported to know of a child Trump had fathered outside his marriage.
12Trump has denied all of the charges and any involvement in sexual relationships outside his marriage.
13That includes the charge that he directed his one-time political adviser, Michael Cohen, to make the payment to Daniels.
14Cohen says he made the payment and Trump paid him back during the first year of his presidency in 2017.
15The monthly payments to Cohen were recorded in Trump's business records as legal expenses.
16Falsifying a company's records is a misdemeanor crime.
17But doing so in connection with other wrongdoing is a more serious felony crime.
18Trump is accused of falsifying records to keep information from the public that could have affected the 2016 election results.
19Each of the charges carries the possibility of a four-year prison term.
20The New York case is one of four criminal indictments Trump is facing, 88 charges in all.
21Trump has denied all of them.
22Two of the other indictments accuse Trump of trying to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss.
23The third says he illegally took hundreds of highly secret national security documents to his Florida home when his presidential term ended, and then refused to return them.
24No trial dates have been set in the other cases.
25Pre-trial hearings and legal arguments have delayed the process.
26Trump has looked to push the start dates until after the election in November.
27If he wins office, he could seek to have the federal charges dismissed.
28I'm Anna Mateo.
1The first criminal trial of a former American president opened Monday in New York City. Donald J. Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records. Trump also is considered the likely Republican Party nominee for president in November's general elections in the United States. 2Jury selection is the first step in the trial process. Over the coming days, the defense and the prosecution will consider possible jury candidates. The final group will number 12 jurors and six possible substitutes, or alternates. 3Trump is accused of hiding a $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels just ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors say the money was provided in exchange for her silence about a reported sexual interaction between them years earlier. 4The indictment also alleges that model and actor Karen McDougal had a months-long relationship with Trump while he was married. She says a newspaper publisher paid $150,000 for the rights to her story but did not publish it, reportedly at Trump's request. 5The charges also involve a payment to a Trump Tower employee. The doorman reported to know of a child Trump had fathered outside his marriage. 6Trump has denied all of the charges and any involvement in sexual relationships outside his marriage. That includes the charge that he directed his one-time political adviser, Michael Cohen, to make the payment to Daniels. Cohen says he made the payment and Trump paid him back during the first year of his presidency in 2017. The monthly payments to Cohen were recorded in Trump's business records as legal expenses. 7Falsifying a company's records is a misdemeanor crime. But doing so in connection with other wrongdoing is a more serious felony crime. Trump is accused of falsifying records to keep information from the public that could have affected the 2016 election results. 8Each of the charges carries the possibility of a four-year prison term. 9The New York case is one of four criminal indictments Trump is facing, 88 charges in all. Trump has denied all of them. 10Two of the other indictments accuse Trump of trying to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss. The third says he illegally took hundreds of highly secret national security documents to his Florida home when his presidential term ended, and then refused to return them. 11No trial dates have been set in the other cases. Pre-trial hearings and legal arguments have delayed the process. Trump has looked to push the start dates until after the election in November. If he wins office, he could seek to have the federal charges dismissed. 12I'm Anna Mateo. 13Ken Bredemeier wrote this story for Voice of America. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. 14______________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16selection - n. the act of choosing something or someone from a group 17indictment - n. an official written statement charging a person with a crime 18misdemeanor - n. a crime that is not very serious : a crime that is less serious than a felony 19felony - n. a serious crime