Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer has rejected prosecution claims in his criminal hush money case that payments to porn star Stormy Daniels were made to help her win the 2016 election .
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, also argued that Trump, being a “saver,” would never have overpaid his “obsessed” personal lawyer Michael Cohen and tried to discredit Daniels, claiming she fabricated their affair.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to covering up an alleged scheme to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels with an illegal $130,000 payment just before the 2016 election.
Opening statements began Monday morning in this explosive case that is sure to reveal Trump’s secrets.
In her opening argument to the 12-person jury, Blanche insisted that Trump is “innocent” and never committed crimes in a case that should never have been brought in the first place.
Blanche said Trump was someone “larger than life” and was likely known to the jury who saw him on television.
“But he’s also here in this courtroom, doing what any of us would do, defend himself,” Blanche said.
Blanche said he was going to refer to Trump as “President Trump” because it was “the title he earned because he was our 45th president.”
Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer has rejected prosecution claims in his criminal hush money case that payments to porn star Stormy Daniels were made to help her win the 2015 election .
Former President Donald Trump awaits the start of criminal proceedings in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Monday, April 22.
Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche also argued that Trump, being a “saver,” would never have overpaid his “obsessed” personal lawyer Michael Cohen and attempted to discredit Daniels, claiming she fabricated their affair .
“But it’s not just our former president, it’s not just Donald Trump that you’ve seen on TV and heard about and seen pictures of. He’s also a man, he’s is a husband, he is a father,” he declared in front of an attentive jury.
Regarding the allegations, Blanche said: “What people have just done presents to you what seems to be a very clear and pleasant story.
‘It’s not. It’s not simple…the story you heard is not true and at the end of this trial there will be many reasonable doubts.
Blanche dismissed the 34 counts as “34 pieces of paper” and said “none of it was a crime.”
He claimed the $35,000 paid to Cohen each month was because he worked as his personal attorney while in office.
Blanche attempted to overturn the prosecution’s argument that Trump was greedy.
He said: “President Trump has not reimbursed Mr. Cohen $130,000. President Trump paid Michael Cohen $420,000.
“At the same time, people told you he was known as a thrifty businessman.”
“Ask yourself: Would a frugal businessman, a man with a few pennies, pay off a $130,000 debt to the tune of $420,000? »
According to Blanche, Trump had “nothing to do” with processing invoices, generating checks or making ledger entries, all of which were done by Trump employees.
There is a “complete lack of knowledge or intent” on Trump’s part, Blanche said.
Trump’s lawyer tried to discredit Stormy Daniels, claiming she fabricated their affair
“Michael Cohen paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her agreement not to publicly release false statements about President Trump, which is not illegal,” Trump’s lawyer said.
“There is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy. They add something sinister to this idea, as if it were a crime.
“That’s not the case,” he continued.
“Michael Cohen pays Stormy Daniels $130,000 to agree not to publicly release false statements about President Trump, it’s not illegal.”
When his claims were exposed as “embarrassing President Trump and his family,” he “retaliated to protect his family, his reputation and his brand, which is not a crime,” Blanche said.
Turning to Cohen, Blanche said he tried to “blame President Trump for virtually all of his problems.”
Cohen is “obsessed with President Trump, even to this day,” Blanche said, noting that Cohen has written books and runs two podcasts about Trump.
Just last night, Cohen appeared online and said he wanted to see Trump in an “orange jumpsuit,” Blanche said.
Cohen “cannot be trusted” because “his entire financial livelihood depends on destroying President Trump,” he continued.
Meanwhile, prosecutors used their opening arguments to describe a hand-in-hand relationship between the former president and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker as the newspaper unleashed attacks on Trump’s opponents in 2016.
Cohen is “obsessed with President Trump, even to this day,” Blanche said, noting that Cohen has written books and runs two podcasts about Trump.
Just last night, Cohen appeared online saying he wanted to see Trump in an “orange jumpsuit,” Blanche said.
Cohen served time after pleading guilty to campaign finance crimes and lying to Congress
It’s a partnership that spawned explosive tabloid stories from the 2016 campaign, including an Enquirer article claiming Ted Cruz had five mistresses and another sparsely sourced story linking his father Rafael to Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo described Pecker’s activities in remarks that touched on an alleged “criminal conspiracy and cover-up” involving Trump, former fixer Michael Cohen and Pecker, the former AMI media executive.
Prosecutors described a scheme to “cover up” damaging stories about Trump while suppressing stories about his political rivals, before calling former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker to the stand.
Stories from 2016, including one accusing Cruz of having multiple affairs and another accusing his father Rafael of having ties to the JFK assassination
“Donald, you’re a whiny coward and leave Heidi alone,” Cruz said in 2016.
Pecker had conversations with Trump fixer Michael Cohen about damaging stories
It was a relationship with two key elements: efforts to “catch and kill” stories that could harm Trump, while also making headlines that could harm his opponents, prosecutors said.
Colangelo told a packed courtroom in Manhattan: “This case is about criminal conspiracy and cover-up. The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election.
“Then he covered up this criminal conspiracy by lying again and again in his business records in New York.”
He added: “It was election fraud, pure and simple. »
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