This is an unprecedented fact for a former president. Late Thursday, a grand jury in a New York court voted to impeach Donald Trump for buying the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Here are the key events which led the former tenant of the White House to face criminal charges.
January 12, 2018
THE wall street journal exposes the case: A month before the 2016 election, a Trump lawyer allegedly paid $130,000 to stop Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, from going public with an alleged sexual encounter with him in 2006.
February 13, 2018
In a statement to New York Times, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen says he paid Daniels $130,000 out of his own pocket — a transaction in which “neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump Campaign” was involved. He added that he was not reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the campaign for the payment.
Mr. Cohen declines to answer several follow-up questions, including whether Trump was aware of the payments or whether similar payments had been made to others over the years.
March 6, 2018
Porn actress Stormy Daniels is filing a lawsuit in Los Angeles against President Donald Trump in an attempt to have the confidentiality clause she signed with him invalidated, according to court documents.
The complaint notes, among other things, that she and Donald Trump had an intimate relationship between the summer of 2006 and “a good part of 2007”.
April 5, 2018
For the first time since the beginning of the case, the president breaks the silence. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he claims he was unaware of the payment made by his personal attorney, Michael Cohen. He also states that he did not know where the money came from.
August 21, 2018
Michael Cohen confesses in court that Mr. Trump ordered him to arrange payments to two women during the 2016 campaign to prevent them from publicly disclosing affairs. He claims to have acted “at the request of the candidate” and “with the intention of influencing the 2016 presidential election”.
Cohen says he paid Daniels and model Karen McDougal $130,000 and $150,000, respectively, at Trump’s request. He pleads guilty to eight counts — two of which relate to campaign financing.
Shortly after Mr. Cohen’s appearance, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation to determine whether the payments violated New York state laws.
December 12, 2018
Michael Cohen is sentenced to a total of three years in prison for his role in the payment to help Trump’s 2016 election campaign and for lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Tower project in Russia.
February 27, 2019
Before a commission of inquiry of the House of Representatives, the former lawyer of the president describes his former client as “liar”, “racist” and “crook”. He presents documents revealing that Trump was involved in the case of the secret payments.
Cohen also states that Donald Trump himself, when he was president, signed a check for $35,000 when he was president to reimburse him for “the silent money I paid on his behalf.”
July 19, 2019
A New York court uncovers documents related to the Cohen case, revealing that Trump was part of efforts to keep the alleged affairs, including the one with Daniels, secret before the 2016 election.
Although they have these disturbing exchanges, the prosecutors announce the closure of the file, without proceeding to new indictments.
August 2019
Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan District Attorney at the time, relaunched his own investigation.
At the end of the month, prosecutors in his office demanded eight years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business tax returns.
September 19, 2019
Mr. Trump’s lawyers are suing to protect his tax returns. The president’s legal team argues that the Constitution immunizes sitting presidents from criminal investigation until they leave the White House.
July 9, 2020
The Supreme Court of the United States inflicts a setback on Donald Trump, ruling that the Manhattan prosecutor, Cyrus Vance, was entitled to claim the accounting records of the American president, including his tax returns. The Court, however, blocked their transfer to Congress.
February 22, 2021
The Supreme Court rejects Donald Trump’s new attempt to block the publication of his statements. The Supreme Court had already ordered the transmission of the documents to the prosecutor, but the tycoon’s lawyers had re-solicited it to dispute the extent of the documents requested. “The work continues,” responded prosecutor Cyrus Vance on Twitter.
January 1, 2022
Alvin L. Bragg, a new prosecutor takes over from Mr. Vance, who left office after ten years as a New York prosecutor. The new prosecutor assures that he will keep the pressure on Trump and continue the investigation.
November 21, 2022
After months of stalemate, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors are returning to the original focus of the long-running investigation: a silent payment to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic actress who said she had sex with Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg and some of his aides say they are once again optimistic about building a case against Mr. Trump, according to the New York Times.
January 30, 2023
Manhattan prosecutors begin presenting evidence from the Trump-Stormy Daniels case to a grand jury. The latter met over the next three months and heard testimony about the silent payment from at least nine witnesses.
March 18, 2023
Donald Trump says on his Truth Social social network that he expects to be arrested in the coming days in connection with the Alvin Bragg investigation. He calls on his supporters to demonstrate. “Protest, take back control of our nation! “, he wrote.
March 30, 2023
Donald Trump is finally indicted by the grand jury for having bought the silence of Stormy Daniels in 2016 – an unprecedented fact for a former president. The former president quickly reacted to the news with a long statement and returning to the theme of “political persecution” and “interference” in the 2024 presidential election. April 4, 2023.
With information from New York Times and Agence France-Presse