NEW YORK. Former President Donald Trump arrived at a New York courthouse on Monday as the curtain lifted on his historic trial, marking the first-ever criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president. The trial focuses on allegations that Trump engaged in a cover-up of hush money paid to a porn star during his 2016 campaign, with prosecutors contending that these actions violated the law.
Despite Trump’s call for peaceful protests at courthouses nationwide, few supporters were present as he arrived at the downtown courthouse, encircled by barricades yet open to the public. Venting his frustrations on social media, Trump decried the closures around Lower Manhattan, labeling the situation as “SO UNFAIR!!!”
Legal representatives for the Republican nominee are poised to deliver their opening statement in what may be the sole trial among Trump’s four criminal prosecutions to precede his anticipated November 5 election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
According to prosecutors, the $130,000 payment made by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to porn star Stormy Daniels was aimed at concealing an alleged sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels a decade prior. They assert that this clandestine transaction misled voters during the final stretch of Trump’s 2016 campaign, already beleaguered by revelations of sexual impropriety.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, adamantly denying any sexual encounter with Daniels. While legal experts view this case as the least impactful among Trump’s legal entanglements, a conviction could tarnish his candidacy, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling indicating significant voter aversion to a convicted candidate.
Prosecutors allege that the payment to Daniels was part of a broader strategy termed a “catch and kill” scheme, devised by Trump, Cohen, and David Pecker, former CEO of American Media, to silence individuals possessing potentially damaging information about Trump ahead of the 2016 election.
Pecker is slated as the prosecution’s inaugural witness, reportedly agreeing during a 2015 meeting with Trump and Cohen to serve as the campaign’s “eyes and ears” against unfavorable media coverage.
The trial is expected to shed light on the intricacies of Trump’s financial maneuvers, particularly his reimbursement of Cohen for the Daniels payment, purportedly recorded falsely as a legal expense in his real estate company’s records to circumvent campaign finance laws.
As the trial unfolds, Trump’s political future hangs in the balance, with his approval rating among Republicans climbing following the announcement of charges in April 2023. Despite facing legal turbulence stemming from his efforts to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election and handling of classified documents post-presidency, Trump remains locked in a neck-and-neck race with Biden.
Justice Juan Merchan, presiding over the hush money trial, has imposed a restrained gag order on Trump following his criticisms of witnesses, prosecutors, the judge, and his daughter, prompting prosecutors to push for penalties against Trump for flouting the order.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
