UPDATED 2:53 P.M.
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial dismissed dozens of potential jurors on Monday who said they could not impartially decide whether the former U.S. president is guilty or innocent of criminal charges.
On the first day of the historic criminal trial, the first to involve a former president, Justice Juan Merchan told nearly 100 prospective jurors they must set aside any biases or personal attitudes about the defendant or the case, including “political orientation.”
At least 50 were dismissed after saying they could not be impartial in judging Trump, the 2024 Republican candidate for president. Others were excused who said they could not serve for other reasons.
“I just couldn’t do it,” one prospective juror was heard to say outside the courtroom.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, has charged Trump with falsifying records to cover up a $130,000 payment in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels about a 2006 sexual encounter she has said they had.
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has testified that he made the payments to buy Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump has denied any such relationship with Daniels and has pleaded not guilty.
Many prospective panelists stretched their necks to get a look at Trump from their seats in the New York City courtroom.
Lawyers from both sides will seek to impanel 12 jurors and six alternates to hear what could be the only criminal case Trump faces before the Nov. 5 election.
Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and testimony from a parade of potentially riveting witnesses, including Cohen and Daniels.
Merchan said that in order to convict, jurors must find that Trump is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, not that he is “probably” guilty.
A guilty verdict would not bar Trump from office, but half of independent voters and one in four Republicans say they would not vote for him if he were convicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Falsifying business records in New York is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though many of those found guilty have been sentenced to fines or probation.
Wearing his signature blue suit and red tie, Trump watched from the defendant’s table as prosecutors asked a judge to fine him and remind him he could go to jail for violating a gag order that bars him from interfering with potential witnesses.
Trump, 77, is required to attend the trial unless he seeks an exemption.
Prosecutors asked the judge to fine Trump $1,000 for each of three social-media posts this month about Cohen and Daniels.
“The defendant has demonstrated his willingness to flout the order. He has attacked witnesses in the case, in the past he has attacked grand jurors in the case,” prosecutor Christopher Conroy said.
Merchan set April 23 to consider the proposed fines.
Under Merchan’s gag order, Trump is barred from making public statements about witnesses concerning their potential testimony and about prosecutors, court staff and their family members if the statements are meant to interfere with the case.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said Trump did not violate the gag order because he was responding to Daniels and Cohen, who he said have been “just generally disparaging President Trump constantly.”
Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating campaign finance law, though the federal prosecutors who brought that case did not charge Trump.
Trump has called Cohen a “serial liar” and his lawyers are expected to attack his credibility at trial.
POLICE STAND GUARDPolice stood guard in front of the courthouse amid a maze of barricades. A handful of protesters carried hand-painted signs reading “LOSER” and “convict Trump already.”
Though the case is regarded by some legal experts as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions he faces, it is the only one guaranteed to go to trial before the Nov. 5 election.
The businessman-turned-politician, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, says he is being targeted by his political enemies.
“This is political persecution,” Trump said before entering the courtroom.
In his three other criminal cases, Trump stands accused of mishandling classified information and trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has pleaded not guilty in all of those cases.
Bragg has argued that the case concerns an unlawful scheme to corrupt the 2016 election by burying a scandalous story that would have harmed Trump’s campaign.
David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer tabloid, will testify that he ran stories in the tabloid to boost Trump’s 2016 campaign, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
Also due on the witness stand is Karen McDougal, a former nude model for Playboy magazine who prosecutors say was paid by the National Enquirer to keep quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump.
Merchan said he would not permit witnesses or prosecutors to tell the jury that the affair took place while Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant with their child.
Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defense, a risky move that could open him to cross-examination.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
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UPDATED 11:23 A.M.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York prosecutors said at the start of Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Monday they would ask a judge to hold the former president in contempt after they described a “pressure campaign” against his former fixer and a likely witness Michael Cohen.
With Trump seated at the defense table, prosecutors cited Trump’s criticism of witnesses, court officials and others over the years. They spoke on the first day of a historic trial that stems from a 2016 hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“We will be seeking an order to show cause as to why the defendant should not be held in contempt,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told Justice Juan Merchan. It was not clear what penalties the prosecutor might seek.
Steinglass urged Merchan to allow prosecutors to show Trump’s 2018 tweets directed at Cohen, which Steinglass described as a pressure campaign to prevent Cohen from cooperating with law enforcement.
“The truth is that Michael Cohen stayed loyal for as long as he did because of the defendant’s pressure campaign,” Steinglass said. “This effort continues to this very day.”
Trump, 77, is required to attend the trial, which is expected to last through May and could complicate his bid to win back the White House as the Republican 2024 candidate.
The selection of 12 jurors and six alternates from a pool of Manhattan residents is expected to take about a week, followed by witness testimony.
Wearing his signature blue suit and red tie, Trump, 77, watched while Merchan set limits on witnesses and evidence to be presented at trial and denied a motion by Trump’s lawyers to have the judge recuse himself.
The judge said some 500 potential jurors were waiting while legal arguments took place.
New York state prosecutors accuse Trump of falsifying records to cover up a $130,000 payment in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels about a 2006 sexual encounter she has said they had.
Trump has denied any such relationship. He pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsification of business records in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, in New York state court.
Cohen has testified that he made the payments to buy Daniels’ silence ahead of the 2016 election, in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating campaign finance law, though the federal prosecutors who brought that case did not charge Trump.
POLICE STAND GUARDPolice stood guard in front of the courthouse amid a maze of barricades, and helicopters shadowed the motorcade of black SUVs that ferried Trump from his Trump Tower apartment.
A handful of protesters, gathered in the plaza across the street, carried hand-painted signs reading “LOSER” and “convict Trump already.”
Though the case is regarded by some legal experts as the least consequential of the four criminal prosecutions he faces, it is the only one guaranteed to go to trial before the Nov. 5 election.
If convicted, Trump could still hold office but Reuters/Ipsos polling shows a guilty verdict could hobble his prospects.
The businessman-turned-politician, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, has used past court appearances to rally his supporters and claim he is being targeted by his political enemies.
Over the past year, Trump has criticized witnesses, court officials and relatives of those involved in the various legal cases – prompting Merchan and two other judges to impose limited gag orders against him.
Trump’s legal team has for months filed a flurry of legal motions to delay or derail his cases.
In this case, Trump has unsuccessfully sought to force Merchan to step aside, arguing that he faces a conflict of interest because the judge’s daughter has worked with Democratic politicians.
“This is an outrage,” Trump said before entering the courtroom. “This is political persecution.”
TRUMP FACES FOUR CRIMINAL CASES
In his three other criminal cases, Trump stands accused of mishandling classified information and trying to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. He has painted all the criminal cases against him as a plot by Biden’s Democrats to undermine his presidential campaign.
Bragg has argued that the case concerns an unlawful scheme to corrupt the 2016 election by burying a scandalous story that would have harmed Trump’s campaign. Trump’s lawyers have said the payment to Daniels did not amount to an illegal campaign contribution.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found that nearly two in three voters found the charges in the case at least somewhat serious. One in four of his fellow Republicans and half of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony.
TABLOIDS AND A PLAYBOY PLAYMATE
Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and testimony from a parade of potentially riveting witnesses, including Cohen and Daniels.
David Pecker, the former head of the National Enquirer tabloid, will also testify that he ran stories in the tabloid to boost Trump’s 2016 campaign, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said.
Also due on the witness stand is Karen McDougal, a former nude model for Playboy magazine who prosecutors say was paid by the National Enquirer to keep quiet about an affair she says she had with Trump.
Merchan said he would not permit witnesses or prosecutors to tell the jury that the affair took place while Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant with their child.
Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defense, a risky proposition that would open him up to probing cross-examination by prosecutors.
Merchan said he would not permit the jury to see other evidence of questionable sexual behavior by Trump, including a tape from the “Access Hollywood” TV show that included denigrating comments about a female host.
Trump is accused of falsely recording reimbursements to Cohen as monthly legal retainer fees in his New York-based real estate company’s books. Falsifying business records in New York is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though many defendants convicted of that charge have been sentenced to fines or probation.
Trump’s defense has argued that his payments to Cohen in 2017, while he was president, were for legal services. Trump has called Cohen a “serial liar” and his lawyers are expected to attack his credibility at trial.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu in Washington; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Will Dunham and Howard Goller)
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – Donald Trump becomes the first former president to face a criminal trial on Monday when jury selection begins in Manhattan in a case involving hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, with the U.S. election looming in less than seven months as he seeks a return to the White House.
Trump, 77, has three other criminal cases that are bogged down by legal wrangling and may not occur before the election in which he is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden. Two of the other cases concern his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and one involves his retention of classified documents after leaving office in 2021.
He is accused of falsifying records to cover up a $130,000 payment he arranged to be made by his then-lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign to buy her silence about a 2006 sexual encounter she has said she had with him at a Lake Tahoe hotel.
Trump has denied any such relationship. He pleaded not guilty last year to 34 counts of falsification of business records in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, in New York state court. A conviction would not prevent Trump from running for or taking office.
He has painted all the criminal cases against him as intended to harm him politically – even as he warns that he would seek to turn the Justice Department on political adversaries including Biden if he regains the presidency.
Some legal experts have said the case, with its focus on an extramarital relationship, lacks the gravitas of Trump’s other indictments.
“There’s going to be an argument from the defense that this is a politically motivated prosecution, and if they had a real crime they’d have brought a real crime, and instead they have little notations on a checkbook,” said Adam Kaufmann, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Bragg has argued that the case is about an unlawful scheme to corrupt the 2016 election by burying a scandalous story that would have harmed Trump’s campaign. Trump’s lawyers have said the payment to Daniels did not amount to an illegal campaign contribution.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week found that nearly two in three voters found the charges in the case at least somewhat serious. One in four Republicans and half of independents said they would not vote for Trump if he were convicted of a felony.
Choosing a jury from a pool of people from heavily Democratic Manhattan could take several days, to be followed by opening statements and witness testimony in the trial presided over by Justice Juan Merchan.
Daniels and Cohen are among the witnesses expected to testify. Trump has said he plans to testify in his own defense, a risky proposition that would open him up to probing cross-examination by prosecutors.
‘CATCH AND KILL’
Prosecutors have said the payment to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was part of a broader “catch and kill” scheme to pay off people with potentially negative information about Trump to keep quiet before the election in which Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump is accused of falsely recording reimbursements to Cohen as monthly legal retainer fees in his New York-based real estate company’s books. Falsifying business records in New York is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though many defendants convicted of that charge have been sentenced to fines or probation.
Trump’s defense has argued that Trump’s payments to Cohen in 2017, while he was president, were for legal services. Trump has called Cohen a “serial liar” and his lawyers are expected to attack his credibility at trial. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating campaign finance law and testified that Trump directed him to pay off Daniels. The federal prosecutors who brought that case did not charge Trump.
Trump will be required to attend the trial unless he requests an exemption. While that could limit Trump’s ability to travel to the half dozen closely divided swing states that are expected to determine the election’s outcome, he has used his legal woes to rally his supporters. His daily courtroom appearances could become the equivalent of campaign stops.
Trump’s lawyers lodged three last-minute bids to delay the trial last week. All were rejected by judges.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen in New York; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Will Dunham)
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