In the final weeks of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump’s lawyer tried to buy the silence of a porn actress who said she had a sexual encounter with the Republican during his days as a reality TV star. More than six years later, New York prosecutors appear to be close to deciding whether Trump should face charges in connection with that payoff, in what could become the first criminal case ever brought against a former president. On Wednesday, Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified before a Manhattan grand jury investigating hush money payments made on the former president’s behalf. Associated Press reporter Mike Balsamo lays out the timeline of the legal battle concerning the hush money payment, saying that Trump has denied the allegations all along. “But what we know from testimony before House and Senate panels, as well as testimony given in federal cases, is that Donald Trump did know about the payment that was made to Stormy Daniels. His personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has admitted that he was directed by Donald Trump to make that $130,000 payment to keep Stormy Daniels quiet, despite the fact that Trump said he had no knowledge of it,” Balsamo said. Generally under Justice Department guidelines, a sitting president cannot be indicted. However, once that person leaves office, there is a window within the statute in which a former president theoretically could be charged with a crime. And Balsamo notes that this case could potentially land the former president with a felony charge. “There is a legal theory being explored in New York looking at whether or not the violation of campaign finance laws could also be applied as a state offense. If that indeed is the case, it could increase the penalty for a conviction in this false business document from making it from a misdemeanor into a felony,” Balsamo said.