File. Former president Donald Trump waits with his lawyer Susan Necheles for the start of a hearing at Criminal Court on March 25, 2024 in New York City. Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records last year, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 election. Judge Juan Merchan is expected to set a new start date for the trial after it was delayed following the disclosure of new documents in the case. (Photo by Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images)
The trial in the New York criminal case against Donald Trump begins Monday with jury selection, the first of the four criminal cases against the former president to reach this pivotal stage.
The charges against Trump stem from an investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office into an alleged “catch and kill” scheme to bury negative stories about Trump before the 2016 presidential election in a bid to influence the outcome, according to NBC News.
According to prosecutors, several people participated in the scheme, which involved paying people off to buy their silence and covering up the payments in Trump’s business records.
Here are the key people in the case who will come up during the trial, potentially as witnesses:
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Key players in Trump’s New York criminal trial
Donald Trump
Trump was charged in April 2023 by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly covering up an illegal scheme to sway the 2016 presidential election by trying to suppress negative media stories about Trump by purchasing their rights. His indictment marks the first time in U.S. history that a former president was hit with criminal charges.
Politics
Local, state and national politics
Michael Cohen
Cohen was vice president of the Trump Organization and a personal lawyer to Trump from 2006 to 2018. As part of the scheme, Cohen is accused of using his personal funds to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election to prevent her from publicizing the sexual encounter she alleged she had with Trump years earlier.
Stormy Daniels
Adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, privately alleged during the 2016 election cycle that she had had a sexual encounter with Trump while he was married. Cohen negotiated a deal to buy her “silence and prevent disclosure of the damaging information in the final weeks before the presidential election,” according to prosecutors.
Allen Weisselberg
He was the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer during the hush money scheme. In testimony before the House Oversight Committee in 2019, Cohen told lawmakers that Weisselberg was aware of and helped orchestrate a plan to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000.
Alvin Bragg
Bragg, a Democrat, charged Trump with the 34 counts in the case in April 2023, a little more than a year after he became district attorney of New York County.
Karen McDougal
She’s an American model and actress who appeared in Playboy magazine and alleged that she had a 9-month-long affair with Trump sometime before he was elected president. American Media Inc., AMI, paid $150,000 “in exchange for her agreement not to speak out about the alleged sexual relationship,” the district attorney’s office said.
David Pecker
He was the CEO of AMI until August 2020 and was the publisher of the National Enquirer. He is accused of being directly involved in the "catch and kill" campaign to buy the rights to stories that might harm Trump’s reputation in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Juan Merchan
The Colombian-born judge has served on the New York Supreme Court since 2009 and was assigned to oversee the criminal case against Trump soon after he was indicted in 2023.
Todd Blanche
Trump hired Blanche in April 2023 to serve as the former president’s lead counsel in the case. He has worked as a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in its white-collar defense and investigations group. He has also served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Susan Necheles
She is the other lawyer representing Trump in the case and has been defending the former president and his company since 2021. Necheles is a partner at Necheles Law LLP.
Hope Hicks
The former Trump White House communications director is expected to be a witness for the prosecution during the trial, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told NBC News in early April. She was Trump’s campaign press secretary during the period Trump is accused of orchestrating the “catch and kill” scheme.
This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:
