How Trump could be indicted: What to know about the hush money case

A former president has never been prosecuted in the history of the United States. As early as this week, that may change.

Donald Trump, who faces possible criminal charges in New York relating to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, maintains he has committed no crime and his attorneys argue he was the victim of extortion. The Manhattan district attorney's office, run by Democrat Alvin Bragg, isn’t commenting and no charges have been announced. But if in fact Trump is indicted, it would be a remarkable moment in the country’s history in a case with a legal underpinning that appears far from open-and-shut.

What’s the possible crime?

Factually, the case is straightforward. Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 just days before the 2016 election. In Cohen’s version of events, this was done at the direction of his boss because Daniels was on the cusp of going public about an affair she alleges she had with Trump in 2006.