As he appeared in court in New York, Donald Trump personally entered a not-guilty plea to 34 felony counts, making him the first former US president to be charged with a crime.
Prosecutors claim that he was accused of fabricating business records “to conceal negative facts and illegal activities from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”
The 76-year-old Republican is charged with utilizing a “capture and kill” tactic to track for, acquire, and bury damaging material about him to improve his chances of winning the election.
The alleged payments are referred to by the prosecution as a “plot to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election.”
It was purportedly created to stop her from speaking about a sexual encounter she claimed to have had with Trump in 2006 at a Lake Tahoe hotel.
He is also charged with orchestrating a $150,000 (£120,000) payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal to prevent her from disclosing a claim that she had sex with him.
Both the sexual interactions he had with the two ladies and any criminality surrounding the payments were denied by him.
Prosecutors believe that a third allegation centres on an alleged $30,000 (£24,000) payment to a former doorman for Trump Tower who claimed to have information regarding a kid Trump had outside of marriage.
The trial continues and Trump is set to appear in court today.
