Donald Trump will make history once again on Monday morning when he becomes the first American president to face a criminal trial.
The Republican, who is running for the White House again this year, has been accused by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of falsifying his business records, a felony in New York state, in order to conceal a “hush money” payment made to the porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election to ensure her silence over an extramartial affair she alleges she had with the businessman a decade earlier.
Mr Trump denies the affair and any wrongdoing in the case after being hit with 34 felony charges by Mr Bragg.
The trial is expected to get underway at 10am this morning in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, with jury selection the first step, after numerous efforts by the defendant’s legal team to have the trial further postponed fell flat.
On Sunday evening, Mr Trump took to Truth Social to complain: “Tomorrow morning I’ll be in Criminal Court, before a totally conflicted Judge, a Corrupt Prosecutor, a Legal System in CHAOS, a State being overrun by violent crime and corruption, and Crooked Joe Biden’s henchmen ’Rigging the System’.”