NEW YORK (AP) — Opening statements at Donald TrumpThe historic hush money trial is set to begin Monday morning, setting the stage for weeks of unsavory and salacious testimony about the former president’s personal life and placing his legal troubles at the center of his hotly contested campaign against President Joe Biden.
A panel of New Yorkers – 12 jurors and six alternates – were sworn in last Friday after four days of jury selection and will hear what is the first ever criminal trial against a former US commander in chief.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records as part of an alleged scheme to bury stories he said could damage his 2016 presidential campaign.
At the heart of the allegations is a $130,000 payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels by Michael CohenTrump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, to prevent her allegations of a sexual relationship with Trump from surfacing in the final days of the race.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of those payments in internal business documents. Trump has denied having a sexual relationship with Daniels and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal fees. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
The financial silence case is the first of four Trump indictments to go to trial.
Currently:
— Key players: Who’s who in Donald Trump’s secret criminal trial
— The financial silence case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here
— Trump cancels rally due to weather, proving the difficulty of balancing a trial and a campaign
— Trump was forced to listen silently as potential jurors offered their unvarnished assessments of him
— Live video of man setting himself on fire in court poses challenge for news agencies
Here is the last one:
PRISON TIME IS JUST ONE OF THE ISSUES TARGETED AT Trump
Donald Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records and could face up to four years in prison if convicted, although it is unclear whether the judge would seek to put him behind bars. A conviction would not prevent Trump from becoming president again, but because it is a state matter, he would not be able to attempt a pardon if convicted. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Taking place as Trump struggles to win back the White House, the trial will force him to spend his days in a courtroom rather than on the campaign trail. He will have to listen to witnesses recount salacious and potentially unflattering details about his private life.
Trump has nevertheless sought to make his status as a criminal defendant an asset for his campaign, raising funds to alleviate his legal risks and repeatedly railing against a justice system that he has claimed for years to be a weapon against him.
PROSECUTORS SHOULD MAKE HISTORY WITH OPENING STATEMENTS
For the first time, prosecutors will present a criminal case against a former U.S. president to a jury on Monday, accusing Donald Trump of a hush money scheme aimed at preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public.
The statements should give jurors and voters a clearer view of the allegations at the heart of the case, as well as insight into Trump’s expected defense.
The case is heard by a jury made up of, among others, several lawyers, a sales professional, an investment banker and an English professor.
The case will test jurors’ ability to set aside bias, but also Trump’s ability to respect court-imposed restrictions, such as the silence order that prohibits him from attacking witnesses. Prosecutors are seeking fines against him for alleged violations of that order.
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