Trump trial live: Opening statements scheduled to begin Monday as legal fees eat into campaign coffers

Michael Avenatti, the disgraced former lawyer for the porn star, said he has been in contact with Trump's legal team and is prepared to testify on the former president's behalf at trial.

“The defense contacted me,” Avenatti said. new york post From prison.

“I would be happy to testify. I don't know if I will be called to testify, but I have been in touch with Mr. Trump's defense team for the better part of a year.”

Avenatti is currently serving a 19-year sentence at Terminal Island, a minimum-security federal prison in Los Angeles, for racketeering, tax evasion, fraud, embezzlement and other federal crimes.

Check out all the latest from Manhattan in the livestream below.

Introducing gold sneakers, a Lee Greenwood Bible, and a customizable Love and Gratitude necklace for Mother's Day. Is this a presidential campaign or a home shopping channel?

Here it is Oliver O'Connell First lady Melania Trump returned to the campaign trail (well, sort of) on Saturday, when she helped the conservative LGBT+ group Log Cabin Republicans raise $1 million at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

The defendant complained last week that Judge Marchand's request to attend court four days a week has prevented him from traveling to key battleground states to campaign for president.

When he finally managed to escape over the weekend, the meeting had to be canceled due to the weather, which may just be seen as divine intervention (revenge for trying to make money off the Bible?) .

This is what Trump had to say to his supporters on Truth Social.

alex woodward This morning, we're back outside the courtroom in Lower Manhattan, reporting:

“The gates to the press staging area are still locked, but in the meantime there are lines surrounding the park.

“In court on Friday, there was no recognition (perhaps for the best) of the man who self-immolated literally steps away from where I am standing now, and the security and police presence did not appear to have changed. Ta.

“We are expecting opening arguments from the prosecution and possibly a potential first witness, and there is some speculation that it could be David Pecker.

“Judge Marchand will also likely handle all of Sandoval's business in the morning.”

alex woodward reported independent person From a lower Manhattan courthouse all last week.

Here is his reflection on what actually happened.

new york times Last night, the former reported national inquirer Publisher David Pecker is expected to be the first witness called by prosecutors this week.

MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin correctly called out the Manhattan prosecutor's office's strategy in a tweet the day before.

“According to the Manhattan Prosecutor's Office Statement of Facts accompanying the indictment, the story begins with Trump's infamous car ride to Manhattan Station. [escalator] He announced his candidacy for president in June 2015.

“But “soon after,'' in August 2015, Trump and Cohen met with Pecker, who served as the campaign's “eyes and ears” to support Trump throughout the campaign and hurt his rivals. I offered to play a role. national inquirerCoverage.

“American Media’s fulfillment of its commitments is significant, especially as it admitted to certain conduct through a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice in 2018 and this “arbitration agreement” with the Federal Election Commission in 2021. .

“But what's more important? Mr. Pecker not only understood that Mr. Trump understood his publication's proposal to “catch and kill” negative stories, especially related to Mr. Trump's extramarital affair, but also wholeheartedly I can testify that I supported it.

“And given that few people other than Michael Cohen had direct communication with Trump about the plans in question, Pecker's testimony is critical to establishing Trump's intentions and knowledge. It could be Finn.

Below is an introduction to Mr. Pecker and other key players likely to be on the stand. ariana bio.

Members of Trump's legal team offered a “fact-focused” defense yesterday to show the former president did nothing wrong, a day before opening arguments in his landmark hush-money trial began. He revealed his plan.

It seems highly unlikely that such posts would curry any favor with the defendant for Judge Marchand or Judge Alvin Bragg, but Trump keeps making them “true” anyway.

The first is an anti-Semitic campaign that cites the right's favorite liberal bogeyman, billionaire investor George Soros, and suggests that the Manhattan DA's office is a puppet of shadowy, sinister forces. I realized that I was dabbling in conspiracy theories. Without any evidence of course.

Still, with remarkable courage, he asked for the gag order imposed by the judge to be lifted.

Elsewhere, he has slammed the media for interviewing former members of his administration and threatening “non-profit organizations” in rather vague ways.

Former President Donald Trump's legal team is trying to delay a hush money lawsuit in which he is accused of falsifying 34 business records with a variety of defenses.