Donald Trump arrested: What is the hush money case?

Donald Trump, a former US President and front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, has arrived at a New York City courthouse, and will shortly be arraigned after he turned himself in to the authorities.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has been investigating a $130,000 payment made by Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, which was made to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.

"This is not illegal, Trump has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment," BBC reported, but when Cohen reimbursed the amount, the record for the payment claimed that it was for legal fees.

Prosecutors said that this amounts to Trump falsifying business records, which is a misdemeanour — a criminal offence — in New York, and BBC expects the charges to be related to that.

Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina said last week that he believed the case against the former president could include 30 separate charges — possibly because each cheque that the Republican leader Trump wrote to Cohen would be counted separately.