Trump Trial: New York Prosecutors and Defense Give Opening Arguments

NEW YORK – Donald Trump sat quietly looking forward Monday as prosecutors recited the 34-count hush-money charge before a jury in the first criminal trial of a former president.

A twelve-person jury in Manhattan listened to opening statements from prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, who used his time to craft a comprehensive narrative on the facts of the case. He spent much of his opening statement describing the role of Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, saying his job was “to solve problems for the defendant.”

Colangelo said Cohen used his own money to raise $130,000 to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Prosecutors say this marked an act of deception against voters in the latest days of the 2016 campaign. .

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying corporate records, a Class E felony brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D). The former president has denied having any sexual encounters with Daniels.

Colangelo continued into the 11 a.m. morning on a longer narrative journey that explained to jurors how Trump’s established relationship with the major media mogul who oversaw the National researcher was used to dispel negative press about the then 2016 presidential candidate.

The first witness Bragg’s office wants to call is David Pecker, the former CEO of tabloid publisher American Media, or AMI.

Bragg’s office said Pecker was part of a broader “catch and kill” scheme masterminded by Trump and Cohen. Pecker allegedly took large sums of money to hide potentially damaging information about Trump before the November 2016 election, prosecutors say.

“You will even hear Mr. Trump suggest in his own voice, ‘pay him in cash,’” Colangelo said, looking intently at the jury.

Cohen is expected to be prosecutors’ star witness because his payments to the porn star are at the center of Bragg’s indictment.

The prosecutors’ indictment alleged that Trump concealed the true nature of the payments in his internal records when the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of concealing more than $4 million in unreported revenue and thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions.

Prosecutors will use Pecker’s testimony to corroborate much of what the former attorney is expected to testify about, and they also plan to invite Daniels to the witness stand. Trump has repeatedly said he would testify in his own defense.

Others expected to testify include Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who received $150,000 from the Pecker’s company in 2016 for the rights to her story about an alleged 10-month affair with Trump in the mid-2000s. Trump has denied her claims.

Colangelo said Pecker will testify that $150,000 was more than the National researcher would normally have paid for such a deal, and that Pecker had difficulty getting reimbursed for it. He also said Pecker will testify that he spoke to Trump about it.

Hope Hicks, former White House communications director, is also expected to testify. She spoke to Trump by phone in an attempt to keep Daniels’ accusations out of the press after the infamous leaked Access to Hollywood tape three weeks before the 2016 election. The tape, which dates from 2005, shows Trump bragging about grabbing women ‘by the p****’.

Colangelo even recited Trump’s entire quoted transcript from the 2005 tape during opening arguments on Monday.

“Donald Trump is guilty of first-degree falsification of 34 business documents,” Colangelo said toward the end of his opening argument.

To convict Trump of a crime, Bragg must prove that he not only falsified business records or caused them to be falsely entered, which would be a crime, but that he did so to conceal another crime. Trump is not charged with an additional crime.

But the problem for prosecutors, which Trump has already made loud and clear, is that Cohen appears to have lied to multiple branches of the federal government in recent years.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche opened his arguments by stating that the 34 charges against Trump are “just 34 pieces of paper.” When Blanche stood up, Trump’s attention shifted from the couch to his lawyer.

“None of this was a crime,” Blanche said, adding: “I have a spoiler alert: There is nothing wrong with trying to influence the election. That’s called democracy.”

At one point, prosecutors took issue with Blanche’s characterization of the case. The attorney claimed the payment to Daniels was akin to “extortion.” He also said that hush money payments were negotiated through lawyers, not the former president.

“There is nothing illegal about opening a non-disclosure agreement,” Blanche said at least twice.

Trump’s defense team even used their opening arguments to attack Cohen, calling him a convicted felon and a perjurer.

Cohen “blamed Trump for all his problems,” Blanche said.

“You will learn that Michael Cohen was obsessed with Donald Trump… even to this day,” Blanche said, noting that Trump has been the central focus of numerous podcasts and television appearances in which Cohen has participated.

Before sitting down, Blanche implored the jury to listen carefully to the testimony in the coming weeks.

“Use your common sense. We are New Yorkers, that’s why we’re here,” Blanche said, noting that the 12 jurors and six alternates had sworn to decide the case impartially.

This case against the former president, the first in history, is seen by many legal experts as one of Trump’s least consequential prosecutions.

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Although the charges he faces could lead to prison time if convicted, a guilty verdict would not bar him from holding office, and first offenses typically do not result in prison sentences.

Blanche’s opening arguments were still in progress as of 11:45 am. Judge Juan Merchan said the court would conclude its work for the day at 12:30 pm on Monday.