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Former US President Trump: Prosecutors accuse the Republican of falsifying business documents
Photo: Brendan Mcdermid / REUTERS
It's about illegal payments and the falsification of business documents: In the trial over an alleged hush money payment to a former porn actress, a New York judge rejected a request from former US President Donald Trump to dismiss the case. Judge Juan Merchan thus cleared the way for the trial to begin, which is scheduled to begin at the end of March.
A jury will be selected starting March 25, Merchan confirmed, according to consistent US media reports. Trump was also present at the hearing on Thursday in New York.
The former US president described the case as “very unfair” and politically motivated because he wants to run again as a candidate in the presidential election in November. In his view, the scheduling of the trial was an inadmissible interference in the elections. Merchan, however, emphasized that he did not want to deter Trump from the election campaign in any way.
Trump has been indicted on 34 counts in New York since April last year: The public prosecutor's office accuses the Republican of falsifying business documents. In order to improve his chances in the vote, Trump wanted to hide harmful information and illegal activities before and after the 2016 presidential election. New York election law makes it a felony to conspire to advance a candidate in an election by unlawful means.
The background to the case is primarily that Trump had $130,000 in hush money paid to the porn actress Stormy Daniels shortly before his election as president. She had claimed that she had had sex with him. Trump denies an affair, but does not deny that money was flowed.
Non-disclosure agreements between two parties are not in themselves illegal. However, Trump is accused of illegally recording the payments, trying to conceal them illegally and thereby trying to cover up other violations of the law.
Proceedings of historic proportions
The trial against Trump in New York is of historic proportions: never before has a current or former president in the USA had to stand trial in a criminal court. Trump has to answer in court in four different cases. In addition to New York, court proceedings against the ex-president are also underway in Miami, Washington, DC, and Atlanta.
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