NEW YORK (AP) – Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by blocking damaging stories about his private life from becoming public, the former president's history said Monday. prosecutor told jurors at the start of the hush money trial.
Defense lawyers countered by insisting that Trump was “innocent” and attacking the integrity of the former Trump confidant who is now the government's star witness. Trump's lawyers said the lawsuit should never have been filed.
The opening statement marked the beginning of the first criminal trial against a former US president, but the case is unfolding against the backdrop of a close White House race, with Mr Trump not only a potential Republican candidate but also a felonious felon. He is also a defendant facing the prospect of a conviction and prison term. .
The trial covers weeks of sordid and unflattering attempts by then-celebrity candidates to silence coverage they feared would undermine their candidacies, including an alleged affair with a porn star from a decade ago. Testimony that cannot be given will be provided.
Prosecutors initially sought to elevate the severity of the case, which was the first of four criminal charges against Trump and related to election interference, until it could be tried by a jury. This portrayal was intended to counter criticism that the core charges in this case were less serious than three other cases that centered on charges of storing classified documents and subverting democracy. It seems to be a thing.
“Defendant Donald Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. He then lied again and again on his New York business records to cover up that criminal conspiracy.” Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors.
The statement provided the 12 jurors and the voting public with a roadmap for how to view the allegations at the heart of the case.
They also served as an introduction to the colorful characters that make up the sordid story, including a porn actor who claims to have had sexual relations with Trump. Her prosecutors say her lawyer paid her to keep quiet about the case. and a tabloid publisher who agreed to act as the campaign's “eyes and ears.”
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, but it is unclear whether a judge will seek to send him to prison. A conviction would not prevent Trump from becoming president again, but because this is a state case, he would not be able to seek a pardon if convicted. He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
The lawsuit, filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, comes in a rush to shut down coverage amid concerns that Trump's celebrity past could clash with his political ambitions and undermine his campaign. It reconsiders a chapter in Trump's history.
In his opening statement, Colangelo traced the effort's origins to the emergence of a 2005 “Access Hollywood” recording late in the 2016 campaign in which Trump sexually grabbed women without their permission. He pointed out that he could hear him bragging about it.
“The impact of that tape on the campaign was immediate and explosive,” Colangelo said, explaining to jurors how prominent Trump allies withdrew their support and condemned Trump's language. He spoke to the following people.
Prosecutors said there was evidence that the Republican National Committee was even considering whether it was possible to replace Trump with another candidate.
Within days of the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape, Mr. Colangelo told a jury that porn actor Stormy Daniels should go public with her claims that she had sexual contact with Mr. Trump in 2006. He said the National Enquirer warned Mr. Cohen that he was inciting the attack.
“At Mr. Trump's direction, Mr. Cohen negotiated a deal to buy Mr. Daniels' story in order to ensure that American voters would not hear his story before Election Day,” Colangelo told jurors. said.
Prosecutors said other payments were part of what is known in the tabloid industry as a “catch-and-kill” scheme. That is, buying the rights to potentially harmful articles, capturing them, and then suppressing or killing them through agreements to block them. Pay someone to not tell the story to anyone else.
Colangelo also spoke about an arrangement to pay a former Playboy model $150,000 to suppress her claims about a nearly year-long affair with the married President Trump. Colangelo said President Trump “was anxious for this information about Karen McDougal to become public because he was concerned about the impact on the election.”
He told jurors that they would hear a recording of Cohen briefing Trump on his plan to buy McDougal's story in September 2016. This recording was released in July 2018. Colangelo told jurors that he could hear Trump's physical voice, saying: One-fifty? ”
Trump arrived at the courthouse shortly before 9 a.m., minutes after he denounced the incident on social media in capital letters, calling it “election interference” and a “witch hunt.”
At trial, he will spend his days in court rather than on the campaign trail, a reality he acknowledged Monday when he lamented to reporters that he was “here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania and Georgia and many other places.” complained about. He is campaigning and it is very unfair. ”
Sordid and potentially unpleasant details about Trump's private life were shared with jurors, just as multiple prospective jurors expressed negative opinions about Trump during jury selection. He will be forced to stay in court to get his case.
Trump has nonetheless sought to turn his status as a criminal defendant into a campaign asset, raising money from his legal crisis and repeatedly accusing the justice system he has long argued has been weaponized against him. I've done it.
The jury hearing the case will include lawyers, sales professionals, investment bankers, English teachers and more. As court began on Monday, Judge Juan Melchan revealed that one of the jurors selected for the case told him he was hesitant to participate because of the apparent media attention. Jurors were questioned in private and the case is expected to continue.
The case will test not only the jury's ability to set aside any biases, but also Mr. Trump's ability to abide by the court's restrictions, including a gag order barring him from attacking witnesses. Prosecutors are seeking a fine against him for allegedly violating the order.
Prosecutors say President Trump hid the true nature of the payment in internal records when the company paid compensation to Cohen, who pleaded guilty in a federal case in 2018 and is expected to be a key prosecution witness. claims.
Mr. Trump has denied having sexual contact with Mr. Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Mr. Cohen were legitimate legal fees.
To convict Trump of a felony, prosecutors would have to prove not only that he falsified or made false entries in business records, which would constitute a misdemeanor, but that he did so to conceal another crime. .
These allegations include gross abuses of power, such as a federal lawsuit in Washington that accused Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and a federal lawsuit in Florida that accused Trump of keeping classified documents. This is not an accusation against Mr. Trump of such disregard for national security protocols.
But the New York prosecutor's case takes on added significance because it could be the only of four cases against Trump to go to trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have delayed his three other cases.
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Tucker reported from Washington.
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