Following a string of courthouse losses that have cost Donald Trump hundreds of millions in fines, the former president will finally enter a courtroom on Monday to face 34 felony counts that could lead to prison time and that reality is weighing heavily upon him, reports the New York Times.
On the day before the former president will attend the beginning of his so-called "hush money" trial related to paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair before the 2016 presidential election, the Times reports that this court case has "struck a nerve" with Trump.
Adding to that is his knowledge that what will come out during testimony will likely be embarrassing for a man who is already deeply unpopular in Manhattan where he used to make his home.
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According to the report, "... the Manhattan prosecution presents distinctive threats: For now, it is the only case on track to conclude before Election Day, as Mr. Trump has managed to bog down the others in delays and appeals. And even if Mr. Trump wins back the White House, he could not pardon himself for the Manhattan charges, as he could in the two federal cases he’s facing."
Add to that, the trial testimony could tend to the lurid, the Times is reporting.
"The Manhattan case is also replete with mortifying personal details for Mr. Trump and his family: There’s the porn star who said she had sex with him, the former Trump fixer who paid her off and the tabloid publisher who helped him bury all manner of scurrilous stories," the Times is reporting.
Fears of how the trial plays out also has Trump considering taking the stand based in part how former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen's testimony plays out under harsh questioning.
The Times report adds, "In the courtroom, however, it has been quite some time since Mr. Trump won a major victory. In this year’s first two months alone, he lost a pair of civil trials in spectacular fashion, leading to an $83 million defamation judgment and a $454 million fraud penalty. In both cases, he took the stand. Both times it went poorly. The losses hit his wallet and his ego. But they never threatened his freedom, unlike his four criminal cases unfolding in cities up and down the East Coast."
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