: Trump may be charged in connection with hush money paid to adult film star #IndiaNEWS #International <br>A city prosecutor has signalled Trumps lawyers that he could face criminal charges in

Trump may be charged in connection with hush money paid to adult film star #IndiaNEWS #International
<br>A city prosecutor has signalled Trumps lawyers that he could face criminal charges in the 2016 incident, The New York Times reported on Thursday evening citing unnamed sources.
NBC news also reported quoting his lawyers that Trump had been asked to appear before a grand jury investigating the case, which is usually an indication that an indictment or framing of charges was likely.
But he is not obligated to appear before the grand jury.
Trump reacted with a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, calling it a witch hunt and denying the affair with the porn star.
I did absolutely nothing wrong, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I have wanted to have an affair with Stormy Daniels, whom he described as horse face, he said.
This is a political Witch-Hunt, trying to take down the leading candidate, by far, in the Republican Party while at the same time also leading all Democrats in the polls, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, he posted.
Public prosecutors in New York are elected officials and Alvin Bragg won as a Democrat.
It is now a race between Bragg and prosecutors in Georgia, where a grand jury has reportedly recommended filing charges against Trump for interfering with the 2020 elections by allegedly trying to pressure state officials to find more votes for him.
Bragg had convened a grand jury a citizens panel to investigate the allegations against Trump and decide if charges should be filed.
Under the legal system in the US, that is the first step in criminal cases and it is followed by the trial where a jury, also made up of citizens, hears the case under a judge and gives a verdict unless the accused asks to dispense with the jury and have the judge decide.
Being charged, standing trial or even convicted would not disqualify Trump from running for President under the US Constitution.
But the filing of charges and an eventual trial could come in the way of him getting the Republican Partys nomination to run for president.
He could, however, still run as a third-party candidate or an independent which would mean a defeat for the Republican candidate.
The charges he could face make a convoluted link to the payoff to Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
The primary accusation against Trump is that he gave a former lawyer 0,000 in 2016 during the election campaign to pay off the porn star and showed it as a lawyers fee which would be a violation of the law regarding business records.
Related to that is a possible violation of election laws if the payment is construed as an illegal election contribution, compounding the first accusation.
The lawyer, Michael Cohen, was convicted in a federal trial in connection with the payoff and served prison time.