#TrumpTrial has begun

#Trump’s #criminal trial for falsifying business records during the 2016 presidential campaign to hide an extramarital affair that occurred while his 4th(?) wife was pregnant from his majority #evangelical #Christian #electorate; to that end he arranged an illegal & financially fraudulent #HushMoney pay-off to the adult-film actress #StormyDaniels.

Once the prosecutor & Trump’s #legal team have outlined their cases to the jury, the 1st witnesses will be called.

#law

Lawyers indicated that their opening statements will take a little more than an hour combined. Justice Juan #Merchan also noted that one #juror reached out before court resumed to express nervousness about the media attention surrounding the case, but the judge added that the juror is still here.

#law #Trump #AlvinBragg #ElectionInterference #HushMoney #JuryTampering #WitnessIntimidation #StochasticTerrorism #MAGA #MobTactics

Earlier, #Trump falsely claims #courthouse area is ‘completely CLOSED DOWN’ to protesters again suggesting there is a #DoubleStandard for him & his supporters, when evidence supports the opposite.

Facts:
~100 protesters at Columbia arrested.
Outside courthouse, there are some bike-rack-type barriers (haven’t we learned those are ineffective?), but #protesters have been chanting & walking on the sidewalk. The park outside the courthouse was closed off very early Monday, now it’s unlocked.

#law

#Merchan read his #Sandoval decision re:

the #civil #fraud finding that he misstated his assets; his 2 violations of a #GagOrder stemming from that case; 2 separate court findings of #defamation of #EJeanCarroll; & the dissolution of the #Trump foundation as part of a settlement w/the NYAG.
The judge said he would not allow prosecutors to discuss in detail the underlying facts of those matters — but added a warning that could change.

#law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

“The court cautions defendant that this #Sandoval ruling is a shield, not a sword,” Merchan said. Defense arguments at court could prompt him to reconsider where he draws the line on these issues, he added.

The #jury is now in the courtroom. Justice Juan #Merchan is reading them their instructions.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Expected to be the first witness in the #TrumpTrial is #DavidPecker, the fmr publisher of the #NationalEnquirer, who bought & buried damaging stories about #Trump in a #CatchAndKill scheme to unlawfully #influence the 2016 presidential election.

#criminal #law #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Merchan has explained the concept of #ReasonableDoubt, instructed the jurors that statements made by the various attorneys are not to be accepted as fact, & #jurors are listening intently, a reminder that jurors take many cues from judges - as the impartial arbiter & why #Trump's attacks on judges are stupid.

Besides this case, today there's a hearing to determine the sufficiency of Trump’s #civil #fraud #bond for the $454M penalty, & Thurs, #SCOTUS hears arguments on his bs #immunity defense.

#TrumpTrial #criminal #ElectionInterference opening statements have begun.

Matthew #Colangelo, one of the Manhattan DA’s prosecutors, up.

Per Jonah Bromwich:
“Colangelo is known for his writing, but he has very little experience in Manhattan criminal court — I’ve never heard him give an opening before. He begins by telling the jury that #Trump lied “over & over & over” again by disguising business records.”

#law #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #HushMoney

As #Colangelo says that #Trump orchestrated a #criminal scheme to #corrupt the 2016 presidential election, Trump shook his head.

Trump has attacked Colangelo on Truth Social repeatedly. #StochasticTerrorism

Colangelo has outlined the #crime, & is on to the #GrandJury #indictment of Trump last year. His opening is expected to take >1 hr.

#law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Colangelo describes “#CatchAndKill scheme, in which #NationalEnquirer bought stories that were problems for #Trump & buried them.
NOT NORMAL #journalism

Colangelo describes some NE headlines that helped Trump's 2016 #campaign, embarrassing campaign opponents incl’g #TedCruz & #MarcoRubio.
Prosecutors are limited to the HEADLINES per #Sandoval. They go to Trump’s #intent: to #influence the election by promoting negative stories about others & suppressing those about himself.

#law #TrumpTrial

Prosecutors to highlight 3 hush-money deals: #Trump & co-conspirators paid off the #PornStar, the #PlayboyModel & the #doorman.

#Colangelo emphasizes it was the 1st time ever that #DavidPecker, #NationalEnquirer, paid for info relating to Trump.

key: every one of these acts involving #HushMoney sprang from the meeting at which the #conspiracy was hatched.

IOW, prosecutors are accusing Trump of using The NE to do for Trump what Trump constantly says others do against him: promote “#FakeNews.”

Colangelo is now describing the 2nd “#CatchAndKill” deal in question, relating to #KarenMcDougal, a fmr #PlayboyModel who said she had an affair w/ #Trump. #Colangelo says evidence will show that Trump “desperately” didn’t want that info public. “Before the meeting, during the meeting, after the meeting,” Colangelo says, #NationalEnquirer publisher was in touch w/ #MichaelCohen, putting this deal right at Trump’s doorstep.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Colangelo says #Pecker will testify that $150k was more than The #NationalEnquirer would typically have paid for such a deal, & that Pecker had trouble being reimbursed. Crucially, Colangelo says, Pecker will testify that he spoke to #Trump about it.

Colangelo mentions an audio #recording #Cohen made between himself & Trump discussing the #McDougal deal.

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Colangelo says that jurors will hear #Trump, in his own voice, urging the money be repaid in cash. This doesn't connect Trump to the actual #crime, which only relates to a payment to #StormyDaniels. But it suggests a pattern of behavior.

Colangelo is now describing the emergence of the "#AccessHollywood" tape on Oct 7, 2016, beginning w/ email outreach to Trump spox #HopeHicks. Colangelo reads aloud the worst of Trump’s language, bragging about grabbing women's genitals.

#law #TrumpTrial

As #Colangelo describes the "#AccessHollywood" tape that he says turned the 2016 campaign upside down, he refers to this email chain. We learned it would be admitted as #evidence only last wk. It's really striking how much important #evidence in this opening was just allowed in, & emphasizes the importance of the judge's decisions.

When Colangelo said the "Access Hollywood" tape transcript depicted the defendant bragging about #SexualAssault, #Trump shook his head.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial

"Another story about sexual infidelity, especially w/ a porn star, on the heels of the '#AccessHollywood' tape, could have been devastating to his campaign," #Colangelo says of the #StormyDaniels story. He says that "w/pressure mounting & Election Day fast approaching, Donald #Trump agreed to the #payoff & directed #Cohen to proceed."

Colangelo says Trump told Cohen to drag out paying Daniels, in the hopes of getting past the #election & then not paying her at all.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial

Reportedly, #Trump pursed his lips at ↑ that & wrote a note which he passed to his atty Todd Blanche, then whispered to atty, Emil Bove.

#Colangelo described a communication from Keith Davidson, the lawyer for #KarenMcDougal, to Dylan Howard, a #NationalEnquirer editor, as it became clear Trump was winning the #election: "What have we done," he said.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Finished w/describing the series of payoffs, #Colangelo details the part the #criminal charges stem from. He is describing the paperwork arrangement to reimburse #MichaelCohen for the #HushMoney payment he made to #StormyDaniels, & how #Trump & #AllenWeisselberg, sought to “disguise” the repayment.

There were chuckles in the courtroom as Colangelo says Trump was a "very frugal businessman" who watched all the spending at his empire.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy

#Colangelo says #Trump's willingness to go to the trouble of the convoluted repayment scheme to #Cohen “shows just how important it was to him to hide the true nature of Cohen's illegal payment to Ms. Daniels & the overall #election #conspiracy that they had launched."

#MichaelCohen is a key witness. Colangelo explained the litany of problems w/Cohen to get ahead of defense’s attempt to discredit him - something Trump's lawyers can't do, their client won't let them: admit mistakes were made.

#Colangelo insists that much of #Cohen's testimony will be #corroborated, incl’g by witnesses from The #NationalEnquirer & "an extensive paper trail."

Because the prosecution bears the burden of proving its case beyond a reasonable doubt, it gets to go first (& last) in a #criminal case. The advantage of that can be seen in action here, as Colangelo gives the jury his own frame through which to view #MichaelCohen.

#law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Colangelo depicted #MichaelCohen as a flawed man who has lied before, saying he lied about the payment to #StormyDaniels initially "to protect his boss."

"This case is about a #criminal #conspiracy & a #coverup," Colangelo says, st the start of his conclusion of his opening statement, adding that at the end of the case, jurors will have no #ReasonableDoubt about #Trump's #guilt.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Colangelo encourages #jurors to "tune out the noise" & "focus on the facts" during the course of the #TrumpTrial. He summarizes the evidence again, & says after all the evidence is in, Joshua Steinglass, another prosecutor, will do the closing argument.

He ends by saying there is "only one conclusion: Donald Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree."

#criminal #law #Trump #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

Todd #Blanche presented the defense's opening statement.

"President Trump is innocent," are the first words of Blanche's opening.
“President Trump did not commit any crimes."
"He is cloaked in innocence.”

Blanche highlights that #Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, which is something that some of his more heated critics sometimes lose sight of.

Blanche seeks to have the jurors relate to his client, as he says Trump is doing "what any of us would do."

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial

#Blanche said that the prosecution told a “clean nice story," but that it is not as simple as they would have the #jury believe. He said that many of the docs in evidence are almost a decade old. The testimony, he suggests, is similarly old. He said, the story that #jurors heard "is not true."

#Trump largely avoided looking at the jury during prosecution's opening statement. He shifted his body in their direction during defense’s.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #ElectionInterference

#Blanche said #Trump put up "a wall" between himself & his company when he became president. We know from the civil #fraud ruling that isn’t true.

Trump always seems to get his lawyers to basically testify about how *successful* the #TrumpOrganization, has been. - Blanche went off on this success narrative for a while.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

#Blanche downplayed the 34 charges of falsfying records #Trump faces as a "business records violation."

He highlighted the disparity between the $130k #HushMoney payment & what was paid to #MichaelCohen. He asks them, if Trump really was so frugal, would he have repaid Cohen so much? "This was not a payback," he said, adding: “He was President Trump's personal atty."

"would a frugal business man …repay [a] $130k debt to the tune of $420k?"

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #ElectionInterference

It seems like #Blanche will seek to convince the jury that everything was appropriate & done by the book, not even worthy of notice. That #Cohen was #Trump's lawyer, & he was paid for #legal services. But he'll also seek to distance his client from the matter: "President Trump had nothing to do w/the invoice," he said.

#criminal #law #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney

"I have a spoiler alert: There's nothing wrong w/trying to influence an election," #Blanche says. "It's called democracy." [not the charge. The charge is falsifying business records, the #MensRea is to influence. Besides which, influencing an election through illegal means is duh illegal]

"They put something sinsiter on this idea as if it were a crime," he continued. "You'll learn it's not."

#criminal #law #Trump #TrumpTrial #CatchAndKill #conspiracy #ElectionInterference #HushMoney