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Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial

Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week.

The trial centers on allegations the former president falsified his company’s internal records to obscure the true nature of reimbursement payments to his former fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, who arranged hush money payments to bury negative stories about him during his 2016 presidential race.

What to know about Trump’s hush money trial:

The witnesses include a porn actor, a former tabloid publisher and Cohen, who went to federal prison for his role in the hush money matter and for other crimes, including lying to Congress. Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass forewarned prospective jurors that they have “what you might consider to be some baggage.”

Here’s a look at the key players in the historic first criminal trial of a former U.S. president:

DEFENDANT

Former President Donald Trump appears for jury selection in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)

Former President Donald Trump appears for jury selection in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, April 19, 2024. (Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via AP, Pool)

DONALD TRUMP — The former president of the United States and the presumptive Republican nominee, who parlayed his success as reality television star and celebrity businessman and won the presidential election in 2016, becoming America’s 45th president. The trial involves allegations that he falsified his company’s records to hide the true nature of payments to Cohen, who helped bury negative stories about him during the 2016 presidential campaign. He’s pleaded not guilty.

WITNESSES

FILE - Michael Cohen arrives at New York Supreme Court Oct. 25, 2023, in New York. Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Cohen was once a fierce Trump ally, but now he's a key prosecution witness against his former boss in the Trump hush money trial. Cohen worked for the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2017. He later went to federal prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations relating to the hush-money arrangements and other, unrelated crimes. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
Michael Cohen arrives at New York Supreme Court Oct. 25, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - Stormy Daniels arrives at an event in Berlin, on Oct. 11, 2018. The porn actor received a $130,000 payment from Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen as part of his hush-money efforts. Cohen paid Daniels to keep quiet about what she says was a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier. Trump denies having sex with Daniels. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
Stormy Daniels arrives at an event in Berlin, on Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

MICHAEL COHEN — Trump’s former lawyer and fixer. He was once a fierce Trump ally, but now he’s a key prosecution witness against his former boss. Cohen worked for the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2017. He later went to federal prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations relating to the hush money arrangements and other, unrelated crimes.

FILE - David Pecker, chairman and CEO of American Media, speaks at an event, Jan. 31, 2014 in New York. Pecker is The National Enquirer's former publisher and a longtime friend of Donald Trump. Prosecutors say he met with Trump and Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 and agreed to help Trump's campaign identify negative stories about him. (Marion Curtis via AP, File)
David Pecker, chairman and CEO of American Media, speaks at an event, Jan. 31, 2014 in New York. (Marion Curtis via AP, File)

FILE - Hope Hicks, former White House Communications Director, arrives to meet with the House Intelligence Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 27, 2018. Prosecutors say Hicks spoke with former President Donald Trump by phone during a frenzied effort to keep allegations of his marital infidelity out of the press after the infamous
Hope Hicks, former White House Communications Director, arrives to meet with the House Intelligence Committee, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

STORMY DANIELS — The porn actor who received a $130,000 payment from Cohen as part of his hush-money efforts. Cohen paid Daniels to keep quiet about what she says was a sexual encounter with Trump years earlier. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.

KAREN MCDOUGAL — A former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with Trump in the mid-2000s. She was paid $150,000 in 2016 by the parent company of the National Enquirer for the rights to her story about the alleged relationship. Trump denies having sex with McDougal.

DAVID PECKER — The National Enquirer’s former publisher and a longtime Trump friend. Prosecutors say he met with Trump and Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 and agreed to help Trump’s campaign identify negative stories about him.

HOPE HICKS — Trump’s former White House communications director. Prosecutors say she spoke with Trump by phone during a frenzied effort to keep allegations of his marital infidelity out of the press after the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked weeks before the 2016 election. In the tape, from 2005, Trump boasted about grabbing women without permission.

FILE - Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg listens at news conference in New York, Feb. 7, 2023. A former civil rights lawyer and law professor, Bragg is a Democrat in his first term as Manhattan's district attorney. He inherited the Donald Trump investigation when he took office in 2021. He oversaw the prosecution of Trump's company in an unrelated tax fraud case before moving to indict Trump last year. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg listens at news conference in New York, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

PROSECUTORS

ALVIN BRAGG — A former civil rights lawyer and law professor, Bragg is a Democrat in his first term as Manhattan’s district attorney. He inherited the Trump investigation when he took office in 2021. He oversaw the prosecution of Trump’s company in an unrelated tax fraud case before moving to indict Trump last year.

MATTHEW COLANGELO — A former high-ranking Justice Department official who was hired by Bragg in 2022 to lead the Trump investigation. They previously worked together on Trump-related matters at the New York attorney general’s office.

JOSHUA STEINGLASS — A Manhattan prosecutor for more than 25 years, he has worked on some of the office’s more high-profile cases, including the Trump Organization’s tax fraud conviction in 2022, and cases involving violent crimes.

SUSAN HOFFINGER — The chief of the district attorney’s Investigation Division, she returned to the office in 2022 after more than 20 years in private practice with her sister, Fran. She worked with Steinglass on the Trump Organization tax fraud prosecution.

TRUMP’S LAWYERS

FILE - Former President Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche exits the courtroom, April 19, 2024, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. A former federal prosecutor, Blanche previously represented Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in a mortgage fraud case, and got it thrown out. Blanche successfully argued that the case, brought by the same prosecutor's office now taking on Trump, was too similar to one that landed Manafort in federal prison and therefore amounted to double jeopardy. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Former President Donald Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche exits the courtroom, April 19, 2024, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP, File)

FILE - Donald Trump's defense attorney, Susan Necheles, returns to the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court, April 16, 2024, in New York. A former Brooklyn prosecutor, Necheles is a respected New York City defense lawyer who represented Donald Trump's company at its tax fraud trial last year. In the past she served as counsel to the late Genovese crime family underboss Venero Mangano, known as Benny Eggs, and defended John Gotti's lawyer, Bruce Cutler, in the early 90s. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool, File)
Donald Trump’s defense attorney, Susan Necheles, returns to the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court, April 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool, File)

FIILE - Donald Trump's defense attorney, Emil Bove, returns to the courtroom after a break at Manhattan criminal court, April 16, 2024, in New York. A star college lacrosse player, Bove was a veteran prosecutor for years in the prestigious Southern District of New York. In that role, he was involved in multiple high-profile prosecutions, including a drug trafficking case against the brother of the former Honduran president. He also served as co-chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool, File)

Donald Trump’s defense attorney, Emil Bove, returns to the courtroom after a break at Manhattan criminal court, April 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, Pool, File)

TODD BLANCHE — A former federal prosecutor, Blanche previously represented Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, in a mortgage fraud case — and got it thrown out. Blanche successfully argued that the case, brought by the same prosecutor’s office now taking on Trump, was too similar to one that landed Manafort in federal prison and therefore amounted to double jeopardy.

FILE - Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. Merchan is the judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money trial. He was also the judge in the Trump Organization's tax fraud trial in 2022 and is overseeing a border wall fraud case against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

SUSAN NECHELES — A former Brooklyn prosecutor, Necheles is a respected New York City defense lawyer who represented Trump’s company at its tax fraud trial last year. In the past she served as counsel to the late Genovese crime family underboss Venero Mangano, known as Benny Eggs, and defended John Gotti’s lawyer, Bruce Cutler, in the early 90s.

EMIL BOVE — A star college lacrosse player, Bove was a veteran federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He was involved in multiple high-profile prosecutions, including a drug-trafficking case against the former Honduran president’s brother, a man who set off a pressure cooker device in Manhattan and a man who sent dozens of mail bombs to prominent targets across the country.

THE JUDGE

JUAN M. MERCHAN — The judge presiding over the case. He was also the judge in the Trump Organization’s tax fraud trial in 2022 and is overseeing a border wall fraud case against longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon. Merchan has twice denied requests by Trump’s lawyers that he step aside from the case. They contend he is biased because his daughter runs a political consulting firm that has worked for Democrats, including President Joe Biden. Merchan has said he is certain of his “ability to be fair and impartial.”

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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.