Trump, Stormy Daniels, the “pitbull” lawyer… the protagonists of the indictment that puts the former U.S. president on the ropes
Former U.S. President Donald Trump will appear before a judge on Tuesday to to hear charges brought against him by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. of New York for a alleged irregular payment in 2016 to porn actress Stormy Daniels, in order to buy her silence and not to make public a sexual encounter they had in 2006, although he denies it.
Donald Trump, the accused
Although they have not yet been the charges have not yet been against the ex-president, several sources have pointed out that could be about thirtyall of them related to the alleged irregular payment of $130,000 (120,000 euros) to Daniels.
This delivery of money took place several weeks before the 2016 presidential election, allegedly to prevent his publicity from being able to place Trump’s aspirations in jeopardy. to the White House.
In addition, the prosecution alleges that the money came from campaign funds. This is denied by the defense of the businessman, who assures that the payment was made with his own money.
Trump acknowledged in 2018 having disbursed that money to pay the actress, but insisted that it did not come from his election machine, but rather from his personal checkbook. “They didn’t come from the campaign. They came from me. In fact, the first thing I asked was if they came from the campaign, because that might have been a little shady,” he stated at the time.
However, the fact that the payment was made to avoid a political impact on the election could make it a campaign expenditure.
Stormy Daniels, the porn star
Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was born in Baton Rouge (Louisiana) in March 1979 and is considered by many to be Trump’s shoe-inwho has been able to treat him with the same smugness, sarcasm and insolence.
Daniels, who has a long career as an actress in the porn world behind her, claims to have maintained a brief sexual relationship with Trump during a golf outing in 2006, when the former president was already married to Melania, which he wanted to exploit financially, first in 2011 and later in 2016.
When in 2016 Daniels was looking for a media outlet to sell her exclusive to, Michael Cohen, then Donald Trump’s lawyer, handed her the $130,000 in exchange for keep her story secret.
However, their relationship came to light in 2018 and, since then, Daniels has been in an ongoing dialectical and legal fight with Trump and has attempted to capitalize on itby publishing a book, selling promotional items or launching a nationwide tour dubbed ‘Make America Horny Again’, which could be translated as ‘Make America Horny Again.‘.
Michael Cohen, the lawyer who turned against him.
Michael Cohen, who in 2017 went so far as to claim in an interview with Vanity Fair that he was “the guy who would take a bullet for the president“, pleaded guilty a year later before a federal judge to having violated campaign finance rules at the “request of the presidential candidate”, i.e. Donald Trump.
In addition, he acknowledged having managed prior to the presidential election two paymentsone for $130,000 to Daniels and another for $150,000 to Playboy model Karen McDougal, also to prevent her from airing a alleged relationship with Trump.
Nicknamed the mogul’s “pit bull,” Cohen had been linked to Trump since 2007, when he joined the Trump Organization, and eventually became his personal legal adviserin which his commitment exceeded the practices that would normally be expected of a lawyer.
“If you do something wrong (against Trump), I’m going to come after youI’ll grab you by the neck and I won’t let you go until I’m done,” he went on to say in an interview with ABC.
Alvin Bragg puts former president in the dock
Alvin Bragg, a black Democrat, began his tenure as New York prosecutor on January 1, 2022, following the termination of his predecessor, Cyrus Vance, who also gained notoriety for investigating Trump.
In November 2022, it was learned that Bragg, who had served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, had reactivated an investigation into former President Trump’s role in the Daniels payment, a case his predecessor had dismissed.
Since Trump advanced last month that his impeachment was a matter of days away, Bragg has received all kinds of threatsincluding an envelope with white powder sent to the offices of the Prosecutor’s Office, which was later found not to be dangerous.
Likewise, it has been the target of verbal aggression and insults. from Trump supporters and from the businessman himself, who, after learning that the indictment was effective, criticized it on his Truth Social platform.
“They have only brought this false, corrupt and wretched indictment against me because I stand with the American People,” he wrote, “and they know I can’t get a fair trial in New York!” wrote Trump, who has not hesitated to calling the U.S. Attorney’s Office corrupt of New York.
