Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump goes on trial Monday, becoming the first former president in the country's history to face a court hearing on criminal charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money.
The trial will begin in a New York court for paying $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 for the sexual encounter he had with her in 2006.
The 77-year-old was first charged in March last year with falsifying records and listing them as legal expenses.
Payments were also made to several people through attorney Michael Cohen to silence them for extramarital sexual encounters with Trump.
Trump's meeting with the star took place after he married Melania Trump in 2006.
The trial in New York County Criminal Court will begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1:00 p.m. GMT) and will likely end at 4:30 p.m. (8:00 p.m. GMT).
Bruce Fein, an American lawyer specializing in constitutional and international law, said Al Jazeera: “We have no record in 235 years of a former president being prosecuted this way. The closest we came was President Richard Nixon in Watergate, but he was pardoned by President Ford, so he was not convicted.”
The former president aspires again to the White House since the polls are scheduled for November where he will face Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump also faces three other charges including election interference in Georgia, withholding classified documents after leaving the Oval Office and instigating his supporters to visit the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when he lost the presidency to Biden, 81.
