After the completion of the proceedings, after the selection of the jury was made, which turned into a field of disputes between the parties, Donald Trump’s trial begins for good about paying porn star Stormy Daniels not to talk about their relationship.
The prosecution, from the very beginning of the proceedings, before witnesses were called, attributed to Trump the responsibility for the way Daniels’ silence was ensured. It was a criminal scheme orchestrated by the former president, said the prosecutor, who added that Trump resorted to lies to cover his tracks.
The defense, for its part, denied every charge (34 in total) and denied that the goal was to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. The argument was roughly that… these things happen and that Daniels’ testimony is worthless. Shortly before entering the room, Trump emphasized that his trial is a “grossly unfair form of interference in the election” this November for the presidency. “It’s a very, very sad day for America,” he added.
Meanwhile, he also referred to the civil trial for his company and the huge amount he was asked to pay, which exceeds 350 million dollars. New York’s attorney general challenged Trump’s bail, angering the former president. In theory, if requested by this court he will be called to answer for this case as well.
The intervention of the prosecution
The opening remarks of each side it was soon – about 30 minutes – while the whole process would be short because of the Jewish Passover. A case of “criminal conspiracy and cover-up,” the prosecutor called it, commenting that Trump orchestrated a criminal plan before the 2016 election. The defendant, Matthew Colangelo said, “orchestrated a criminal plan to tarnish the 2016 presidential election and then cover up this conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over and over and over again.”
The prosecutor said the payments to Daniels were made at Trump’s behest to ensure she would not influence his campaign, which prosecutors consider election interference. Trump said in his business records that the payments were “for legal services.” “That was a lie,” the prosecutor said.
Trump listened in silence, shaking his head occasionally. Judging by the Daily Mail report, he had his eyes closed at times and his head tilted down, as if he was about to sleep.
Cooperation with the magazine
One of the first witnesses called is David Packerformer editor of the scandal-mongering magazine “National Enquirer». Peker and his magazine worked to “bury” any negative news about Trump while publishing articles about his opponents.
With Pecker’s help, Trump and his associates “used a practice called catch and kill (ie we find a subject and bury it),” the prosecutor told jurors. As he explained, “it’s a way for them to buy damaging information not to publish it, but to hide it, to make it disappear and, in this case, to help the candidate.”
The prosecutor described two other “catch and kill” cases involving Trump in addition to Stormy Daniels.
Peker reportedly paid a Trump Tower doorman $30,000 for the exclusive rights to a story about Trump potentially fathering a child out of wedlock. Another case was that of Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, who claims to have had a long-term relationship with Trump.
What the defense argued
Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanch, told jurors the former president did not know the details of the payments for the money because he put the matter in the hands of his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Trump, he also said, had nothing to do with the 34 checks other than being asked to sign them, but also with falsified accounting entries.
He even claimed that… it’s not a bad thing to try to influence an election: “That’s called democracy,” and that signing a non-disclosure agreement is perfectly legal because “companies do this all the time.”
Regarding Stormy Danielle’s claims, the defense attorney said they are “spicy” but they are also insensitive. He hinted that Daniels made “hundreds of thousands of dollars” from the case by speaking publicly about her story.
What is the case about?
Trump reportedly paid $130,000 to Daniels, in the middle of the election campaign, in 2016, not to speak. The former president is being prosecuted for the way he attempted to manage and conceal the payment.
It is the first time in US history that a former US president has been charged in a criminal trial.
In her statement, Daniels claims that they had intercourse in 2006. Later, shortly before the 2016 election, she accepted $130,000 from Trump’s former lawyer in exchange for her silence.
Prosecutors allege that Trump had his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, make the payment and that Trump then fraudulently recorded the amount he gave Cohen as legal fees
Trump faces 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges while denying that he had sexual intercourse with Daniels. How the number is derived: There are 11 invoices which, according to the prosecution, falsely described what Trump’s payments were about, 12 alleged false listings on the books of the Trump Organization and 11 checks allegedly misrepresenting the nature of the payments. So 34 offences.
Are the accusations valid?
How serious is the offence? Is Trump likely to be convicted? Here things, based on the provisions of US federal and state law, are complicated.
First, the BBC notes, whether or not there will be a prosecution depends on an untested legal theory about whether a state prosecutor can plead an unproven federal crime.
Others claim that the offenses are not only real but also serious. They emphasize that they recommend an attempt to deceive American voters so that they do not learn essential information that would influence their judgment.
Trump, for his part, constantly invokes the argument that the prosecutions against him are political and that the legal part of them is weak.
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