What is Trump's hush money trial all about?

Former President Trump is on trial for 34 counts related to accusations he falsified business records to cover up an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Daniels claimed she and Trump had an affair in 2006, and that she was later paid $130,000 for her silence in the lead-up to the 2016 election by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Trump has denied any wrongdoing, as well as the affair itself.

Trump is accused of hiding the hush money payment by having Cohen hand over the money and then label the repayment to Cohen as legal expenses.

The ongoing trial is the culmination of an investigation started by former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. It has since been picked up by current DA Alvin Bragg.

This is the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial – and the first criminal trial of any ex-president.

After Trump was indicted in April 2023, Bragg accused him of “falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”