Why in News? Donald Trump became the first former US President to face a criminal trial over hush money payments to suppress accounts of his alleged extramarital affairs.

What is the Hush Money Payment Case? It is related to a payment made to Daniels in2016, during the final weeks of the presidential campaign by Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen in exchange to silence Ms. Daniels about her encounter with Trump in 2006. The payment was funded through a home equity line of credit and was reimbursed later by Trump’s company. Cohen had testified that Trump and his company falsely classified the payments by labelling them as legal expenses.

What is Trump accused of doing? He is charged with 34 felony counts for falsifying business records related to a “catch-and-kill” scheme to suppress negative news stories about him ahead of the 2016 election.

What laws has Trump broken? Making a false entry in a company’s records is against New York state law. Falsifying business records on its own is a misdemeanour, but it can be elevated to a felony if prosecutors prove that records were falsified to conceal another crime. In this case, the other crimes include violation of election law as the payout to Ms. Daniels initially served as a donation to Mr. Trump’s campaign.

What is the maximum sentence if Trump is convicted? All the charges against Trump are Class E felonies- the lowest category in New York. Each of the 34 felony counts carries a maximum prison sentence of 4years. But it isn’t necessary that Trump would be imprisoned even if he is convicted by a jury. As per a NYT report, there is nothing in the law that provides for imprisonment, Trump could be sentenced to probation.