Former US President Donald Trump will make history as the first former president to stand trial on Monday in the first of four criminal cases he is facing.
But the presumptive Republican nominee for president will not be the only person standing in trial, which will last up to two months.
A star witness in the case is Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who said there will be 'a few surprises' in his ex boss’ hush-money trial on Monday.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up payments made during his first White House run in 2016 to the adult film star Stormy Daniels in return for her silence about an alleged affair.
A third star in the case is Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who refuses to deliver any statements outside the court sessions.
Tight Security Measures
The trial isn't expected to be televised, per New York law. But an unprecedented security operation will descend around the courthouse in Lower Manhattan amid possible rallies, either backing or opposing Trump.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) will create no-go zones from the courthouse to Trump Tower, where the former president will stay during the trial.
The Police increased security cameras and monitored social media to try to detect any threats, according to CNN.
Also, tight security measures will be imposed around Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the former US president's criminal trial.
According to the court schedule, Trump likely will have to be in court for at least four days a week.
At a press conference with House Speaker Mike Johnson, at his Florida resort home Mar-a-Lago, Trump said he would testify under oath in his criminal hush money trial.
But Trump won't have to be in court on Wednesdays, so he will likely use those days and weekends for campaign events.
Trump's team also will continue to treat every moment the former President is outside the courtroom as a campaign event.
Trump Rallying Supporters
Only three days away from the beginning of his hush money trial in New York City, Donald Trump posted, “72 hours until all hell breaks loose. If we fail to have a MASSIVE outpouring of peaceful patriotic support – right here, right now – all Hell will break loose.”
Hundreds of prospective jurors are expected to show up at the Manhattan courthouse on Monday, when prosecutors and Trump's attorneys will begin a jury-selection process that could last up to two weeks.
Trump faces 34 felony counts in the case brought by Bragg, who accused the former president of intentionally obscuring business records to cover up a $130,000 payment that Cohen, Trump's lawyer and fixer, made to Stormy Daniels in the months before Trump was elected president in 2016.
Cohen has said he made the payment at Trump's instruction.
Hope Hicks, a former Trump White House aide, also is expected to testify and provide key details on what was happening in the former president's inner circle in the days before the 2016 election.
Political Hunt
The case is viewed as the weakest of Trump's four criminal indictments, but it's looking like the only one likely to wrap up before the Nov. 5 election.
A conviction in New York still could put Trump behind bars — theoretically, anyway.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and repeatedly has called the case a political witch hunt.
Most voters think the charges in the hush-money case are serious, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday.
Several polls have indicated that if Trump is convicted, he'll lose support among some voters in what's expected to be a tight race for the White House.
Meanwhile, Trump and President Joe Biden remain locked in a close race for the presidency, according to a new poll from the New York Times and Siena College, which finds registered voters nationwide splitting 46% for Trump to 45% for Biden with no clear leader in the contest.
