What to know about a possible Trump indictment?

• Former President Donald Trump faces possible criminal charges in New York relating to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. The adult film star claims she had an affair with him beginning in 2006.
• Trump maintains he has committed no crime and never had an affair with Daniels. He has accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of being motivated by politics and has attacked him in escalating rhetoric.
• The case is focused on allegations that Trump falsified business records. Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, and fixer testified before the grand jury last week.

Why is David Pecker relevant?

Rebecca Shabad and Laura Jarrett

The witness, David Pecker, who testified on Monday before Manhattan's grand jury played a key role in Trump's efforts to silence women ahead of the 2016 election with whom he had affairs, prosecutors in the previous federal case said.

Pecker's testimony is likely key to the prosecution's argument that the purpose of the hush money payments was to suppress negative information from becoming public before that election.

Pecker, a longtime ally of Trump's, was the CEO of the parent company that owns the National Enquirer, American Media, Inc. In November 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had personally asked Pecker to silence the women, ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels. 

In December 2018, prosecutors said that AMI admitted to paying $150,000 in hush money to McDougal and Daniels. The company paid the women for the exclusive rights to their story so that Trump allies could ensure the story wouldn't become public and influence the 2016 election.

Previously, federal prosecutors granted Pecker immunity in their investigation into former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who made the hush money payments at Trump's direction and was sentenced to prison after lying to investigators about it.