The Eagle News Service:

Donald Trump became the first former US President to face a criminal trial on April 15, in a case that involves paying hush money to adult movie actress Stormy Daniels. The trial could keep Trump tied up in court for weeks and affect his campaign to once again win the White House.

The trial started with selecting the jury that would decide the fate of former US President Donald Trump. The process could take up to two weeks or more. The development came more than a year after Trump was first indicted in the case in March 2023.

Prosecutors said the former President faced 34 counts of falsifying business records. His criminal trial is related to the payment of $130,000 to Daniels in October 2016, in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.

The money was given by the former President’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen in exchange for her silence about a sexual encounter she allegedly had with Trump in July 2006.