New York

In another blow to Donald Trump, who is vying to reclaim the top government post in the world's biggest economy, a judge on Thursday (Feb 15) ruled that the New York 'hush money' trial will begin on March 25. Judge Juan Merchan denied the former US president's motion to dismiss the case related to 2016 hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. 

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“Defendant’s motions to dismiss have been denied,” Merchan said, adding, “We’re moving ahead to jury selection on March 25.”

With the date now out, this will be the first of four criminal cases against Trump to go before a jury. 

The Trump-Daniels saga: Who's she, and what did she reveal?

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Former president Donald Trump has been tied in several legal cases, but the hush money payment matter regarding porn star Stormy Daniels is the one that can push him off the edge.

The matter pertains to a payment of $130,000 which Stormy Daniels says she was given when Trump was campaigning for the 2016 presidential election. It was given in lieu of her silence regarding a short affair she had with Trump in 2006. She reportedly had sex with Trump right after his wife Melania gave birth to Barron Trump.

The money was paid by Trump's then-former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, who had claimed that he did so at Trump's direction.

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Cohen was jailed after pleading guilty to federal charges stemming from the payoff. However, Trump escaped unscathed from the entire incident at that time. but looks all set to become part of a drama in the days ahead.

Who is Stormy Daniels?

Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford.

At the time the alleged affair happened, she was an established adult entertainment actress and a director.

She even had several awards to her name in the adult film industry.

Stormy is a Scotlandville Magnet High School graduate who once wanted to become a journalist. But her career took a massive turn when she visited a friend at a strip club at the age of 17 and soon started performing at a strip club in Baton Rouge.

She changed her name soon after and chose "Stormy Daniels" since she loved the American rock band Mötley Crüe, and the band's bassist, Nikki Sixx, had named his daughter Storm.

She soon became an adult film actress and also directed several movies. Stormy Daniels has also appeared in a few mainstream TV shows and movies.

She was in Steve Carell-starrer The 40-Year-Old Virgin and seen as a pole dancer in the Maroon 5 music video Wake Up Call.

In 2010, Stormy even tried her luck in politics and sought a Republican Senate nomination in Louisiana against David Vitter, but backed out soon after saying that she could not afford to run for the Senate and slammed the media for not taking her seriously.

What Stormy says about her liaison with Trump

Stormy spoke about her relationship with Trump at length in an interview with 60 Minutes in 2018.

She claimed that she met Trump in July 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe.

The two talked about the television business since Trump had been appearing on the reality boardroom competition show The Apprentice at that time.

Trump then invited her over for dinner where she claimed he told her that she could appear on Celebrity Apprentice, but Stormy wasn't sure about that since she was a porn actress.

"He talked about himself and bragged about his photo on the cover of a magazine," Stormy told Anderson Cooper during the interview. 

Also Read | Manhattan grand jury fails to meet Wednesday over Stormy Daniels hush money case

The two then indulged in some "dirty business" and went on to have "unprotected" sex later.

Trump referred to Stormy as “honeybunch”, the adult film star claimed.

The two stayed in touch after that, with Trump inviting her to a Trump Vodka launch party in California and to his office in Trump Tower in New York.

However, she said she was never told to keep the affair a secret. 

In her book Full Disclosure, Stormy said that Trump invited her to his private bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles to talk about her appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.

She said they didn't have sex again and the next day Trump told her he hadn't been able to get her on Celebrity Apprentice. 

Selling the story

Stormy tried to sell the story of her affair with Trump to In Touch magazine. But two employees of the magazine said that Michael Cohen threatened to sue the publication if the interview ran.

It didn't see the light of day. Stormy said she was threatened by a man in a parking lot in Las Vegas who told her to "Leave Trump alone. Forget the story". 

But just when Trump entered the political arena, former Playboy model Karen McDougal sold the story of her own alleged affair with Trump to the National Enquirer. A Federal Election Commission (FEC) document suggests that National Enquirer's parent company American Media Inc (AMI) bought the rights to McDougal's life story. It then struck a so-called 'catch and kill' deal with Trump's campaign officials to buy McDougal's story in order to destroy it.

The hush money case

During the course of Trump's presidential campaign of 2016, at least 19 women alleged that Trump had made sexual advances towards them.

His legal team then reportedly set out to pay off all such women.

But in 2018, reports emerged that Cohen had secretly paid $130,000 to Daniels in exchange for her silence. On January 12, 2018, Wall Street Journal published the first reports of the affair.

Cohen denied the report, but later in February admitted to having paid Daniels from his own pocket. 

Stormy Daniels announced in March that year that she will sue Trump.

Daniels claimed Cohen forced her into signing a statement denying the affair. Later in April, Trump came out and denied having made any such payment.

On December 12, Cohen was sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Trump later claimed on his Truth Social account that the Manhattan DA's office will arrest him within days. He called the probe "corrupt and highly political" and an "old and fully debunked fairy-tale".

The trial date announcement this Thursday came after a grand jury indicted Trump on criminal charges of making hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.

Trump appeared in a New York courtroom on April 4, 2023 and pleaded not guilty. But for him, the story is only beginning, as the hush money trial could very well drag on into the presidential election season.

(With inputs from agencies)