In a historic first, Trump’s criminal hush money trial kicks off in New York

Donald Trump arrived at a Manhattan court for a historic criminal trial stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star that could keep him in court for weeks and complicate his bid to win back the White House.

Trump, 77, is the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial. He is required to attend the trial in Manhattan, which could last through May. Jury selection is expected to take about a week, followed by witness testimony.

Trump has denied any such relationship. He pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsification of business records in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, in New York state court.
In his three other criminal cases, opens new tab, he stands accused of mishandling classified information and trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has painted all the criminal cases against him as a plot by Biden’s Democrats to undermine his presidential campaign.

“There’s going to be an argument from the defense that this is a politically motivated prosecution, and if they had a real crime they’d have brought a real crime, and instead they have little notations on a checkbook,” said Adam Kaufmann, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

On Monday morning, Trump repeated those claims on social media and said Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, is “highly conflicted.”
Bragg has argued that the case concerns an unlawful scheme to corrupt the 2016 election by burying a scandalous story that would have harmed Trump’s campaign. Trump’s lawyers have said the payment to Daniels did not amount to an illegal campaign contribution.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found that nearly two in three voters found the charges in the case at least somewhat serious. One in four of his fellow Republicans and half of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony.

Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and witness testimony.
Daniels and Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who has testified that he made the payments to Daniels, are among the witnesses expected to testify. Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defense, a risky proposition that would open him up to probing cross-examination by prosecutors.

via Reuters