On his way into the courtroom for the day’s proceedings, Trump once again alleged that the trial constitutes election interference, claiming that the proceedings are unfairly keeping him off the campaign trail.
“Everybody knows that I’m here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania and Georgia and lots of other places campaigning, and it’s very unfair,” he told reporters.
“It’s a very, very sad day in America,” he said. “I can tell you that.”
The former president is seated at the defense table between his lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.
-Michael Pappano
The proceedings are underway in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are both in the courtroom.
Three prosecutors — Joshua Steinglass, Matthew Colangelo, and Susan Hoffinger — are seated at the counsel table.
Bragg is seated in the front row of the gallery with approximately a dozen lawyers and staff from his office.
The first witness prosecutors with the Manhattan DA’s office plan to call is former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
ABC News previously reported that prosecutors planned to call Pecker as a witness, but sources now say he is expected to be the first witness to take the stand.
Pecker served as the longtime chief executive of American Media Inc., which published the National Enquirer.
Shortly after Trump announced his 2016 presidential campaign, Pecker met with Trump and agreed to act as the “eyes and ears” of the campaign by looking out for and killing negative stories about Trump, according to the Manhattan DA.
As part of the arrangement, Pecker allegedly directed a deal to pay $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman regarding the false allegation that Trump allegedly fathered a child out of wedlock, prosecutors say. Then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen allegedly insisted that the deal stay in place even after AMI discovered the allegation was false, and AMI paid the doorman, according to the Manhattan DA.
-Katherine Faulders
After a week-long selection process, the jurors in Donald Trump’s New York hush money case are scheduled to hear opening statements this morning in the first criminal trial of a former US president.
To prove their case, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg need to convince twelve jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump repeatedly falsified records to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.
“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics or your feelings about a particular political issue,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told prospective jurors on Thursday. “It’s not a referendum on the Trump presidency, a popularity contest, or any indication of who you plan to vote for this fall. This case is about whether this man broke the law.”
Trump’s lawyers are expected to focus their efforts on going after the credibility of prosecution witnesses, suggesting the case itself is politically motivated and arguing that the former president never intended to commit a crime.
Former President Trump has filed a new emergency appeal to change the venue of his criminal trial.
Oral arguments are scheduled for this afternoon to determine whether the trial should be temporarily paused.
The motion is expected to cite some of the responses prospective jurors gave during the jury selection process.
Trump’s prior attempts to move the trial out of Manhattan have failed.
Tags: Trump hush money trial live updates Jury ready hear opening statements
