By Jack Queen, Luc Cohen and Andy Sullivan
NEW YORK (Reuters) –Donald Trump arrived at a New York courthouse Monday to hear prosecutors explain why his alleged concealment of a secret payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign broke the law, as the first-ever criminal trial of a former American president.
Although Trump called on his supporters to peacefully protest at courthouses “all across the country,” few were on hand to greet him when he arrived at the downtown courthouse. Trump suggested tight security measures were to blame for the low turnout, but the streets surrounding the courthouse were open to the public.
“Lower Manhattan surrounding the courthouse, where I am currently headed, is completely SHUT DOWN. SO UNFAIR!!!” he wrote on social media.
The Republican presidential candidate’s lawyers will also make their opening statement in what could be the only one of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial before his Nov. 5 election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Prosecutors say former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged sexual relationship with Trump a decade earlier misled voters in the latest days of Trump’s campaign in 2016, as he faced further revelations of sexual misconduct.
At the start of the trial, Judge Juan Merchan ruled that prosecutors could question Trump, if he testified, about two other court cases: one that he fraudulently misreported the value of his real estate assets, and another according to which he had defamed the writer E. . Jean Carroll after accusing him of rape.
Merchan also said prosecutors could show jurors a transcript of a tape from the TV show “Access Hollywood” in which Trump makes vulgar comments about grabbing women’s genitals, although jurors are not allowed to see the tape itself.
Wearing a blue tie and dark blue suit, Trump looked at the judge and occasionally spoke to his lawyer. A Secret Service agent wearing an earpiece sat directly behind him.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denies having a sexual relationship with Daniels.
This case is considered by many legal experts to be the least consequential of the prosecutions against Trump. A guilty verdict would not prevent him from taking office, but it could harm his candidacy.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a crime.
“CATCH AND KILL”
Prosecutors said Daniels’ payment was part of a broader “catch and kill” plan hatched by Trump, Cohen and David Pecker – the former chief executive of tabloid publisher American Media – to pay the people with potentially damaging information about Trump before November 2016. election. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Pecker is the first witness prosecutors plan to call after opening statements, The New York Times and CNN reported Sunday. According to prosecutors, Pecker agreed during an August 2015 meeting with Trump and Cohen to act as the campaign’s “eyes and ears” by monitoring negative stories about Trump.
American Media, which publishes the National Enquirer, admitted in 2018 to paying $150,000 to former Playboy magazine model Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about a months-long affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. Media said they worked “in concert.” with the Trump campaign, and she never published an article.
The tabloid struck a similar deal to pay $30,000 to a doorman who sought to sell a story that Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock, which turned out to be false, according to prosecutors.
Trump said the payments were personal and did not violate election law. He also denied the affair with McDougal.
In the New York trial, Trump is accused of falsely recording Cohen’s 2017 reimbursement for paying Daniels as legal fees on his real estate company’s books. Prosecutors say he did so to cover up the fact that Cohen’s payment at the time exceeded the $2,700 limit for individual campaign contributions.
Testimony about those payments could help prosecutors establish that Cohen’s payment to Daniels was part of a larger scheme.
Prosecutors plan to call at least 20 witnesses in total, according to Trump’s defense team. The trial could last six to eight weeks.
Trump faces three other criminal charges stemming from his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in those cases, and he describes them all as a widespread effort by Biden’s Democratic allies to undermine his campaign.
Merchan, who is overseeing the secret trial, imposed limited silence on Trump after criticizing witnesses, prosecutors, the judge and his daughter. Prosecutors are pressuring Merchan to penalize Trump for violating this…
