Former President Donald Trump sits in court during the first day of opening arguments in his trial in Manhattan Criminal Court, Monday, April 22, 2024, in New York. (Victor J. Blue/Washington Post, via AP, Pool)
NEW YORK (AP) — A veteran tabloid publisher was expected to return to the stand Tuesday in Donald Trump's historic hush money trial.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys painted conflicting portraits of the former president in opening statements Monday. The government, where one side portrays him as someone who tried to rig the 2016 presidential election for his own benefit, and the other side portrays him as an innocent, ordinary person who is the subject of a case. “I should never have brought it in.”
David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer and a longtime friend of Trump, was the only witness Monday. He is expected to tell jurors on Tuesday about his own efforts to help suppress topics distasteful to President Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Prosecutors allege that Pecker worked with President Trump and Trump's then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in a “catch-and-kill” strategy to buy up and spike negative stories. . At the heart of the case is an allegation that President Trump orchestrated a plan to bury unflattering stories about his personal life that could derail his campaign.
Prosecutors allege that Trump obscured the nature of these payments in internal documents.
He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison, but it is unclear whether a judge will decide to send him behind bars.
Before testimony resumes on Tuesday, the judge will hold a hearing on prosecutors' request for sanctions and fines against Trump for violating a gag order for social media posts that prohibit him from attacking key witnesses. I plan to.
The case is the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four charges against Trump to reach a jury.
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Opening statements provided a clear picture of Trump's defense
Donald Trump's lawyers used their opening statements to attack the case as baseless, saying the former president had done nothing illegal.
Attorney Todd Blanche disputed prosecutors' claims that Trump agreed to pay campaign contributions to porn star Stormy Daniels, saying Trump was trying to “protect his family, his reputation and his brand.” He said that he had done so.
Blanche suggested that, ultimately, the defense will argue that the essence of a presidential campaign is to try to influence an election.
“It's called democracy,” Blanche told jurors. “They put something sinister on this idea, as if it were a crime. You'll see it's not.”
Blanche also portrayed the bookkeeping at issue in the case as a formality carried out by Trump Organization employees. Blanche said Trump “had nothing to do with false business records other than signing checks at the White House while running the country.”
And because Cohen was Trump's personal attorney at the time, he argued that references to legal fees in the record were not false.
“Election Fraud” VS. “Bookkeeping Matters”
Donald Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal business records at the Trump Organization. But prosecutors made it clear they didn't want jurors to see this as a routine paper case.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said Monday that the crux of the case was a plan by President Trump to “corrupt” the 2016 election by silencing people who came forward with embarrassing stories that he feared would harm his campaign. Stated.
“No politician wants bad press,” Colangelo said. “But the evidence at trial will show that this is not a spin or a communication strategy. This is an attempt to influence the 2016 election and silence people who have anything bad to say about Donald Trump's actions.” It was a planned, orchestrated, long-term conspiracy to help Trump get elected through illegal spending.
Two journalists expelled from Trump trial for violating recording rules
According to court officials, two journalists covering Donald Trump's hush money trial made recordings and photographs in an overflow room where reporters unable to enter the main courtroom watched the proceedings on a large screen. He was dismissed and expelled on Monday for violating rules prohibiting filming.
One of the banned journalists had previously been cautioned for breaking rules during jury selection.
Uniformed court officials make daily announcements reminding reporters of the rules. Signs posted in the overflow room and around the courthouse clearly state that photography and recording are prohibited.
Court ends early for Passover
Donald Trump's hush money trial will be called off early Tuesday to celebrate Passover. Judge Juan M. Marchan is scheduled to conclude his court proceedings at 2 p.m., due to the holiday.
Making history with prosecutor's opening statement
Prosecutors delivered opening statements Monday to jurors in the first criminal trial against a former U.S. president, slamming a hush-money scheme aimed at preventing damaging stories about Donald Trump's private life from becoming public. and left his mark on history.
The dueling statements painted a very different portrait of a man who, before working in the White House, was best known for being a major real estate developer and his reality show, “The Apprentice.”
Some portrayed him as someone who illegally tried to corrupt the 2016 presidential election for his own benefit, while others accused him of being exposed to incidents that the government “never should have happened.” I portrayed him as an innocent, ordinary man.
