Chronology of the 'Stormy Daniels' case, which has led to the indictment of Trump

MADRID, 31 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The imputation of former President Donald Trump, in an unprecedented event in the history of the United States, derives from a case that would date back to 2006 but that did not see the light of day until 2018, when the actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, pointed out directly and in public to the tycoon for an alleged extramarital 'affair' that entailed multiple legal derivatives.

According to Clifford, the meeting in question took place in July 2006, during a charity golf tournament that would have ended with both in a hotel room in Lake Tahoe, located between California and Nevada. The former president, who at that time was married to his current wife - in fact, had just given birth - has always denied that he had any sexual relationship with the actress.

The fact in question would not have been one of the many accusations of infidelity or even harassment leveled against Trump in recent years if it were not for the fact that in 2016, a few days before the elections that brought the Republican leader to the White House, Daniels received a payment of $130,000.

With this money, in which Trump's then lawyer, Michael Cohen, mediated, the tycoon supposedly guaranteed Clifford's silence. The actress alleges she accepted the money out of fear for her family's safety, as she claims she received some advance notice: In 2011, a man approached her in a Las Vegas parking lot to tell her to "leave Trump alone", always according to his version, after agreeing to an interview.

Said interview, with the magazine 'In Touch', did not see the light of day in its entirety until 2018, the year in which the scandal ended up jumping into the air. Clifford spoke at length on television, at the cost of being threatened with a million-dollar lawsuit in which Trump's legal team alleged that the actress was violating a confidentiality agreement.

These types of agreements are legal, to the extent that it is allowed to pay someone in exchange for their silence, but in this case the nuance is that it was done shortly before an election. Therefore, ethical doubts aside, a large part of the doubts in this case revolve around whether Trump could have violated the regulations regarding campaigns.

Cohen acknowledged his guilt in 2018 for various crimes, including the violation of campaign finance regulations, for various payments, including the one made to 'Stormy Daniels'. Initially, he said that he had acted on his behalf, but under oath he ended by stating that Trump personally instructed him to deliver the $130,000 to Clifford and returned an equal amount.

The former president has acknowledged the payment to his former lawyer, but has denied irregularities, as well as the alleged extramarital relationship that is at the origin of this entire case.

For now, the only one who has been held accountable for this scandal has been Cohen, sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 and who has ended up being the key piece in going from ally to declared enemy of Trump. The ex-lawyer went so far as to say that he would be shot by his former friend, but now he openly demands that the process move forward, whoever falls.