Today, Donald Trump will appear in a New York court and become the first former president of the United States to stand trial in a criminal case.
He is accused of falsifying his business records to cover up a hush money payment to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Mr Trump, 77, faces a maximum of four years in prison if convicted, but could avoid prison and be fined instead.
He pleaded not guilty.
Trump's historic trial will take place against the backdrop of his presidential campaign and could ultimately lead to the presumptive Republican nominee becoming a convicted felon months before voters head to the polls in November.
"This is an unprecedented case," said Alex Keysar, a professor of history and public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School. "There was nothing comparable to it".
The trial, which will begin with jury selection on April 15, is expected to last six to eight weeks and will center around the reimbursement of expenses that Trump made to his former confidant Michael Cohen.
Mr Cohen, 57, claimed he was ordered to pay Ms Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence about the alleged affair with Mr Trump, in what prosecutors described as an attempt to "illegally influence" the 2016 election.
"Hush money" payments are not illegal. But the Manhattan district attorney's office alleged that Trump committed a crime by improperly accounting for Cohen's reimbursement as legal expenses.
In total, he was charged with 34 first-degree felony counts of falsifying business records. In order to reach a verdict, all 12 jurors must agree on whether the former American president is guilty or innocent of a specific charge./BGNES
