Opening arguments kick off Trump trial

By: Aysha Bagchi
Bart Jansen
Kinsey Crowley
and Marina Pitofsky
USA Today

NEW YORK - After four days of jury selection, former President Donald Trump's New York hush money trial kicked off for real Monday [04/22/2024] with opening statements.
..... The case centers on allegations that Trump falsified business records to cover up hush money payment form his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pron star Stormy Daniels. According to prosecutors, Trump authorized the payment in order to keep Danial from hurting his 2016 presidential campaign by going public with her story that the pair had sex. Trump denies Danial' claim had has plead not guilty.
..... The trial is not being televised, per New York court rules, and Merchan asked the media not to report identifying details of jurors. He has not sequestered the jury.
..... Merchan gave jurors extensive instructions on the trial and their role within it. he told them not to be influenced by stereotypes or implicit biases. He said they are not permitted to speak with others about the case because only they are authorized to decide.
..... And then the statement began.

The prosecution lays out its case

..... "This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up," said prosecutor Matthew Colangelo: Trump orchestrated a criminal scheme to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, and cover it up by lying i his New York business records "over and over and over again"
..... He described to jurors a meeting among Trump, Cohen, and a tabloid publisher, David Pecker. The men agrees to a three-pronged conspiracy to interfere with the 2016 presidential election Colangeo said.
* Pecker would be the campaign's "eyes and ears," reporting potentially harmful information to Cohen, who would work to keep it quite. Colangelo described this as the "core" of the conspiracy.
* Pecker would publish flattering stories about Trump.
* Pecker would use his publications to attack Trump's political opponents.
..... Part of the scheme: a "catch and kill" effort to secure the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who said she had a affair with Trump - a claim trump denies. Pecker agreed to have his company pay McDougal $150,000 to keep her quite by buying rights to her story but then not publishing it.
..... Jurors will hear Trump in his own voice on tape saying "so what do we got pay for this, 150?" the prosecutor said. The core reason for the payment was to keep the story form hurting Trump's campaign, Colangelo claimed.
..... Then came the effort to quiet Daniels. Cohen sent a $130,000 payment to Daniels' lawyer to kill the story before the 2016 election, Colangelo said.
..... "Cohen made that payment at Donald Trump's direction and for his benefit," Colangelo said, claiming, "it was election fraud, pure and simple.
..... Cohen's testimony in the trial, Colangelo said, will be backed up by a paper trail that includes phone logs and business documents, and "by Donald Trump;s own words on tape, in social media posts, in his own books and in video of his own speeches."
..... Simply put, Colangelo concluded, Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

The defense hits back

..... "President Trump is innocent," Trump's defense lawyer Todd Blanche said to begin his opening statement.
..... Blanche said his team will refer to Trump as "President Trump" throughout the trial out of respect for the office he held.
..... Contradiction prosecutors, Blanche denied that Trump was reimbursing Cohen for the Daniels hush money. Blanche said Cohen was Trump's personal attorney.
..... Moreover, "there's nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. it;s called democracy," Blanche told the jurors. Blanche added that prosecutors have put a "sinister" spin on this, as if it's a crime, but jurors will learn it's not.
..... Then Blanche amped up the drama. Danial' testimony, "while salacious, does not matter,' he said. Taking his time, he emphasized that Trump denies the actor's claim. Paying Daniels for her agreement to not publicly spread "false -false -claims" about Trump isn't illegal, Blanche told the jurors.
..... As for Cohen, "he has a goal, an obsession, with getting Trump, and you're going to hear that," the dense attorney added.
..... He has lied multiple times under oath, Blanche began. Prosecutors objected, and Merchan sustained it. Blanche then told jurors they will learn Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying under oath. "Use your common sense," Blanche said. "we're New Yorkers."
..... In conclusion, Blanche remind jurors hey promised to put aside any views they have about Trump and decide the case based on the evidence presented in the trial. If they do that, there will be a "very swift" not guilty verdict for Trump, he claimed.

Recapping the rest

..... After a break, Pecker briefly took the stand for the remainder of the short day. Prosecution ended at 12:30 PM. due to a juror's dental emergency. Pecker is scheduled to appear again Tuesday [04/23/2024] after Merchan hears arguments about whether Trump has violated gag order.
..... It wasn't Trump's only legal proceeding of the day New York Judge Arthur Engoron approved a new agreement Monday [04/22/2024] between Trump's lawyers and state Attorney General Letitia James to posted to appeal a $454 million judgment in a civil fraud trial for inflating the value of his real estate empire in statements to lenders.

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