22, April 2024
US: Prosecution lays out ‘criminal conspiracy’ as Trump’s hush money trial opens 0
Prosecutors accused Donald Trump of engaging in “criminal conspiracy and a coverup” as opening arguments began Monday in the first ever criminal trial of a former US president.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said Trump falsified business records to pay $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels to “silence” her about a potentially politically embarrassing sexual encounter.
“This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a coverup,” Colangelo told the jury of New Yorkers in a Manhattan courtroom. “He orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.”
Trump, dressed in a dark suit and blue tie, sat at the defense table, staring straight ahead as the prosecutor delivered his opening statement, shifting back and forth in his seat a little.
Before the court session began, Trump condemned the case as “election interference” designed to derail his 2024 White House bid.
“It’s a very, very sad day in America,” the 77-year-old Republican presidential candidate told reporters.
“I’m here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania, in Georgia, and lots of other places campaigning,” he said. “This is a witch hunt and it’s a shame and it comes out of Washington.”
Trump is the first former president to face criminal charges and the case poses substantial risks to him less than seven months before his election rematch with President Joe Biden.
Prosecution witnesses are expected to include Daniels and Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen.
The identities of the jury’s five women and seven men are being kept secret for their own protection.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records to pay “hush money” to Daniels to ensure an account of their alleged 2006 extramarital tryst did not get out ahead of the 2016 election.
The alleged crime is less significant than the indictments stemming from Trump’s attack on the 2020 election – which the Republican lost to Democrat Biden – and his hoarding of secret documents.
Trump could face jail time in the current case, although a fine or probation is more likely, analysts say.
Campaign trail
The trial in a dingy courtroom will keep Trump off the campaign trail for four days a week over a possibly six-to-eight-week period, while Biden hammers him from the White House and around the country.
But Trump has tried to used the heavy media attention to fire up his support base by giving regular statements outside the courtroom.
“This is going to be the beginning of probably the most sensational trial in American history,” former prosecutor Bennett Gershman, now a lecturer at Pace University, told AFP.
“Every day we’re going to be hearing testimony that’s going to be damaging to Mr Trump.”
Trump has railed against the case, particularly what he calls the “very unfair” partial gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan to prevent him from using his media presence to attack witnesses, prosecutors and relatives of court staff.
Security was tight Monday after a man set himself on fire last week outside the courthouse in an unrelated but gruesome incident.
A hearing will be held Tuesday at which Merchan will decide if Trump is already in contempt of court due to outbursts during jury selection.
The Republican’s three other criminal cases have been repeatedly delayed due to his successful strategy of challenging every step.
However, Merchan has run the New York fraud trial on a tight schedule.
Potential jurors were grilled last week by prosecutors and defense attorneys about their media habits, political donations, education and whether they have attended pro- or anti-Trump rallies.
Many potential panelists were excused after saying they could not be impartial, before lawyers and the judge whittled down the group to 12 jurors with six alternates.
A unanimous verdict will be required to convict Trump, who has been ordered to attend each day of the trial.
Source: AFP
30, April 2024
US: Trump fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating gag order in hush money trial 0
The New York judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money trial fined the former president on Tuesday for defying a gag order and warned that further violations could result in jail time.
Judge Juan Merchan held the 77-year-old Trump in contempt of court for breaching an order that he not publicly attack witnesses, jurors or court staff and their relatives.
Merchan fined Trump $1,000 each for nine specific violations of the gag order, and instructed him to remove seven “offending posts” from his Truth Social account and two from a campaign website by Tuesday afternoon.
The judge also warned the former president that he could be sent to jail if he continues to violate the gag order.
“Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment,” Merchan said.
The judge delivered his order before testimony resumed in Trump’s historic trial on charges of falsifying business records to pay hush money to a porn star, Stormy Daniels.
Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges, and his required attendance in court is limiting his time on the campaign trail less than seven months before his likely election rematch with President Joe Biden.
The Republican is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 funneled to Daniels just days ahead of the 2016 election against Hillary Clinton.
Daniels, 45, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was threatening at the time to go public with her story about an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump that could have potentially derailed his White House campaign.
Trump denies having sex with Daniels and has used appearances outside the Manhattan courtroom to rail against his indictment, claiming it is a “witch hunt” brought by Democrats to torpedo his bid to recapture the White House in November.
‘Catch and kill’
Gary Farro, a former senior managing director of the now defunct First Republic Bank, took the witness stand on Tuesday after briefly testifying on Friday.
Cohen, Trump’s “fixer,” set up an account at First Republic in the name of a company called Essential Consultants to arrange for the payment to Daniels.
Cohen, who has become a vocal Trump critic, and Daniels are expected to be star prosecution witnesses during the trial.
The opening of the trial was dominated last week by testimony by a former tabloid publisher who said he suppressed potentially damaging stories about Trump.
David Pecker, 72, outlined a scheme known as “catch and kill,” which involved buying and then burying salacious stories that could have been embarrassing to the real estate tycoon and harmed his campaign.
The former National Enquirer publisher told the court he paid $30,000 to kill a story from a Trump Tower doorman peddling an apparently false claim that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock.
He said $150,000 was paid to squash a story from Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who claimed to have had a year-long affair with Trump.
The case, heard by 12 jurors and six alternates, is expected to last between six and eight weeks.
In addition, Trump has been indicted in Washington and Georgia on charges of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
He also faces charges in Florida of allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.
Source: AFP