How a hush money scandal tied to a porn star led to Trump’s first criminal trial

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — It was the kind of tawdry tale Donald Trump might’ve shrugged off before his life in politics: a porn actress claiming they’d had sex. But on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, Trump feared the story would cost him votes. So, prosecutors say he arranged to pay Stormy Daniels to keep quiet. Now, Trump is set to stand trial Monday in New York on state charges related to the very sex scandal that he and his aides strove to hide. Barring a last-minute delay, it will be the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial. Trump denies the allegations. He says prosecutors are engaging in “election interference” and a “witch hunt.”