In a recent revelation, adult film star Stormy Daniels disclosed that she suffered a miscarriage following the indictment of former President Donald Trump. This personal tragedy adds another layer to the already complex and highly publicized legal battle between Daniels and Trump.
The trial, which marks the first criminal trial against a former U.S. president, revolves around 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges stem from a $130,000 “hush money” payment made to Daniels in 2016. Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office allege that Trump worked to falsely and illegally categorize reimbursements to his lawyer to cover up the payment.
The case first came to light years ago when Trump was still in office. It is the first of four criminal cases Trump faces, and he has denied any wrongdoing, pleading not guilty to all charges. The trial is set to begin with jury selection, and it is expected to draw significant attention, especially with the 2024 presidential election looming.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the case is part of a politically motivated effort by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to keep him out of office. The trial will once again highlight Trump’s and his allies’ efforts to suppress damaging stories ahead of the 2016 election. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney and “fixer,” pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges related to the payments and was sentenced to several years in prison.
The timeline of events leading up to the trial is based on court records, public filings, and comments from key players involved. Trump has denied many of the details, including having affairs with Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, and Karen McDougal, another woman who alleged a relationship and was paid for her silence.
In July 2006, Daniels met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. She later claimed in a 2018 interview with “60 Minutes” that they had sex in his hotel suite. Trump, who was 60 at the time, had recently welcomed a son with his wife Melania. Daniels was 27.
A year later, Trump invited Daniels to his bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss a possible appearance on the spin-off “Celebrity Apprentice.” They spent four hours together but did not have sex, according to Daniels. Trump later informed her that he couldn’t secure her a spot on the show.
In 2011, Daniels gave an interview to the magazine In Touch, describing her encounters with Trump in exchange for $15,000. The interview never ran because Cohen threatened to sue when the publication asked Trump for comment. Daniels claimed she was never paid and was later threatened by a man in Las Vegas who told her to “leave Trump alone” and “forget the story.”
In June 2016, Karen McDougal, an actress and former Playboy model, began trying to sell her story of an alleged affair with Trump. She retained attorney Keith Davidson, who approached the National Enquirer about a possible deal. The National Enquirer secured the rights to McDougal’s account for $150,000 but never published her story, a tactic known as “catch and kill.”
In October 2016, Daniels, represented by Davidson, was willing to go on the record about her alleged affair. Cohen negotiated a deal to pay Daniels $130,000 in exchange for the rights to her story and a non-disclosure agreement. Cohen incorporated a firm known as Essential Consultants LLC to facilitate the payment.
In January 2017, Cohen sought reimbursement from the Trump Organization for $180,035, which included the payment to Daniels, a wiring fee, and an extra $50,000. Trump Organization executives doubled the reimbursement to $360,000 and added another $60,000, totaling $420,000 to be paid in monthly installments over 12 months.
In January 2018, the Wall Street Journal published an article detailing the $130,000 payment to Daniels, the first public acknowledgment of the scheme. Cohen initially denied being reimbursed and claimed the payment was not connected to the Trump campaign. However, he later recanted these assertions.
In March 2018, Daniels, represented by attorney Michael Avenatti, sued Trump and Essential Consultants LLC in California, seeking to nullify the non-disclosure agreement. She argued that the deal was invalid since Trump never signed it. Daniels also alleged that Cohen used “intimidation and coercive tactics” to get her to sign a statement denying the affair.
In April 2018, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Cohen’s home and office, indicating a federal probe into Cohen’s actions. Trump called the search “a disgrace.” Later that month, Daniels sued Trump for defamation over a tweet in which he called her claims of being threatened a “total con job.”
In May 2018, Rudy Giuliani, newly hired as Trump’s personal attorney, admitted that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment. Trump tweeted that Cohen received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign, and that the payment was a private contract between two parties.
In August 2018, Cohen pleaded guilty to eight federal charges, including tax evasion, fraud, and campaign finance violations related to the payments to Daniels and McDougal. He told a federal court that Trump directed him to make the payments.
In December 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York agreed not to prosecute American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, which admitted to burying McDougal’s story to help Trump’s campaign.
In 2019, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation into whether the Trump Organization falsified business records of reimbursement payments to Cohen. The investigation expanded to include Trump’s tax returns and other financial records.
In July 2021, a Manhattan grand jury returned a 15-count indictment against two Trump Organization companies and Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer. Both pleaded not guilty. The indictment alleged that the company and Weisselberg orchestrated a scheme to funnel more than $1.7 million in untaxed “indirect employee compensation” to Weisselberg.
In February 2022, the New York Times revealed that Mark Pomerantz, a former federal prosecutor, wrote in his resignation letter to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that he believed Trump was “guilty of numerous felony violations.” Pomerantz expressed frustration with Bragg’s handling of the case, stating that the team investigating Trump had no doubt about his guilt.
As the trial begins, the focus will be on the legal proceedings and the personal toll it has taken on those involved, including Stormy Daniels, who has now revealed her miscarriage following Trump’s indictment.
Source: CBS News, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal
