“The money Donald Trump paid to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels was a violation of the law because he defrauded voters in this way shortly before the 2016 election,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Colangelo argued today as he began his trial. essentially the criminal trial of the former president.
For his part, Donald Trump’s lawyer said that the former president did not commit any crime and “it is not illegal to try to influence the election”.
“Where is the crime in all that they have described to you?” Todd Blanch said, referring to prosecutors. Describing the accusations as “pieces of paper and nothing else”, he assured that Trump “has nothing to do with them, except that he “signed them when he was in the White House, during the time he ruled the country. It’s not a crime.”
“I’m going to tell you something,” Blanche continued to the jury. “There is nothing illegal about trying to influence an election process. This is called democracy,” he added, stressing that his client is “completely innocent.”
Trump’s known “witch hunt”
Trump arrived earlier in court denouncing, as usual, a “witch hunt” and a “political trial” orchestrated by the White House. “It’s a very, very sad day for America,” he told reporters before entering the courtroom.
“This case involves a conspiracy to defraud. “The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to alter the 2016 presidential election,” the prosecutor told jurors. He also promised they would hear Trump work out the details of the plan in recorded conversations.
Attorneys for the Republican former president will also present their case in the only one of potentially four criminal trials facing Trump that will be heard before the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Colangelo said in his speech that Trump was involved in a conspiracy with his former lawyer Michael Cohen and publisher David Packer to cover up information that was unflattering to the then-presidential candidate and help him defeat his Democratic rival. Hillary Clinton. This included paying women who claimed to have had sexual relations with Trump, such as Stormy Daniels who was paid $130,000 at the time of other revelations about his behavior towards women.
At the start of the trial, Judge Juan Mercan ruled that prosecutors can question Trump, if he testifies, about two other cases: one involving the misleading valuation of his assets and another, defamation of author E. Jean Carroll. since she had accused him of rape. Merchan also said prosecutors can show jurors a taped conversation from a video of the TV show in which Trump made lewd comments about women — but jurors won’t see that video.
Wearing a blue tie and dark blue suit, Trump looked at the judge and, at times, spoke to his lawyer. Just behind him sat a Secret Service agent, wearing an earpiece.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying professional documents and denies having an affair with Daniels. This case is considered by lawyers to be the least damaging to Trump. A conviction does not prevent him from running for the presidency and taking office, but it could hurt his candidacy. A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed half of independent candidates and one in four Republicans would not vote for him if convicted.
The charges of the prosecutor
Colangelo said Trump hid the payment to Daniels, passing it off as “legal fees” for Cohen through 11 falsified invoices, 12 ledger entries and 11 forged checks. “Those were lies. There was no attorney’s fee agreement, Cohen was not paid for his services. The defendant falsified these business documents because he wanted to conceal his own and others’ criminal conduct,” he said.
Peker is the first of the witnesses the prosecution intends to call after the opening buyouts, as reported by the New York Times and the CNN television network. According to prosecutors, in August 2015 Pecker met with Trump and Cohen and agreed to act as the campaign’s “eyes and ears,” looking for negative stories about Trump. “Pecker was not acting as a publisher but as a conspirator,” Colangelo said.
Publishing company American Media, which owns the scandal-mongering magazine National Enquirer, admitted in 2018 that it paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story: a months-long affair with Trump in 2006-7. American Media said it was working “in cooperation” with Trump’s campaign staff and never published the report.
“The evidence will show that the defendant was desperate for this information about Karen McDougal to be released because he was concerned about the impact it would have on the election,” Colangelo said.
The magazine also agreed to pay $30,000 to a bouncer who claimed Trump fathered a child out of wedlock. This story turned out to be false.
Trump claims these payments were his personal business and did not violate election law. He also denies having an affair with McDougal.
In that lawsuit, Trump is accused of misrepresenting on his company’s books as legal expenses the compensation he gave Cohen for money he paid Daniels in 2017. Prosecutors say he did it to hide the fact that the money exceeded the limit of $2,700 that a person was allowed to pay as a contribution to a candidate’s election campaign.
Part of a larger plan?
The witnesses may help the prosecution prove Cohen’s payment to Daniels was part of a larger scheme. Prosecutors plan to call at least 20 witnesses, according to Trump’s lawyers.
Before the start of today’s proceedings, Trump called on his supporters to peacefully protest outside courthouses “across the country,” but few were waiting to greet him when he arrived in Manhattan. The former president claimed tight security was responsible for the low turnout, but the streets around the court were open to the public.
“Lower Manhattan around the Courthouse, where I’m headed now, is completely blocked off. How unfair!” he wrote in his post.
