Trump hush money case: Timeline of scandal that led to ex-US President’s indictment
Former US President Donald Trump is scheduled to appear on Tuesday before a Manhattan court here following an investigation related to hush money payments to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who has said she had a sexual relationship with him.
Following is the chronology of the scandal that led to Trump’s conviction, the first former president to face a criminal charge.
2006: Porn star Stormy Daniels reveals that she met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in Nevada.
2007: A year later, Trump asked Daniels to meet him at his bungalow at Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss an appearance on a show.
2011: Daniels gives an interview with ‘In Touch magazine’ where she details her alleged affair with Trump.
July 2016: Trump secures the Republican nomination for president, just over a year after announcing his candidacy.
October 2016: According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump’s lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, arranges a USD 130,000 payment to Daniels to secure her silence about the alleged affair with Trump.
November 2016: Trump wins the presidency.
January 2018: The Wall Street Journal reports on Cohen’s deal with Daniels. Once again, Trump and Cohen give emphatic denials, though Cohen does not address the payment to Daniels.
February 2018: Cohen tells the New York Times he paid Daniels using his own money and was not directed by Trump’s company or campaign to make the payment. He says Trump never reimbursed him for the payment.
April 2018: Trump’s hush money payment to Daniels goes public in January.
July 2018: Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s personal lawyers at the time, tells Fox News the payment to Daniels was not a campaign finance violation because the money was “funnelled through a law firm” and that Cohen was repaid by Trump.
August 2018: Cohen pleads guilty to criminal charges in Manhattan federal court, including campaign finance violations over the hush money payments.
December 2018: Cohen is sentenced to three years in federal prison.
August 2019: Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney at the time, issues a subpoena to the Trump Organisation for records of hush money payments.
May 2020: Cohen is released from prison early due to COVID-19 concerns and ordered to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.
December 2022: The Trump Organisation is found guilty of tax fraud after a trial in New York state court in Manhattan. The company was fined USD 1.6 million a month later.
January 2023: Evidence presented about Trump’s alleged role in the 2016 hush money payments to a grand jury.
March 2023: Manhattan prosecutors ask Trump to testify before the grand jury, which he refuses. Cohen testifies while Daniels meets with prosecutors.
April 2023: Trump arrives in New York to surrender before Manhattan court where he will be arraigned.