{"id":2227108,"date":"2024-04-22T12:09:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T16:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-new-york-prosecutors-and-defense-give-opening-arguments\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T12:13:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T16:13:29","slug":"trump-trial-new-york-prosecutors-and-defense-give-opening-arguments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-trial-new-york-prosecutors-and-defense-give-opening-arguments\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Trial: Opening Arguments from NY Prosecutors and Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrump-trial-new-york-prosecutors-and-defense-give-opening-arguments%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2227108&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In New York, prosecutors presented a 34-count indictment\u200b against \u200cformer President \u200dDonald Trump for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-settles-lawsuit-with-trump-org-right-before-trial\/\" title=\"Michael Cohen, ex-Trump lawyer, settles lawsuit with Trump Org just before trial.\">hush money \u200cpayments<\/a>. The\u2063 trial revealed details of payments to Stormy Daniels and strategies to suppress negative \u2062media coverage during the 2016\u200b campaign. Witnesses like David Pecker and Hope Hicks \u2063are expected to testify. \u2063Trump faces charges related \u2062to falsifying business records. In New York, a 34-count indictment was \u2062presented\u200d against ex-President Donald Trump for \u200bhush money payments. The trial exposed payments to Stormy Daniels and efforts to control \u200bnegative\u200b media coverage in the 2016 campaign.\u200b Witnesses including \u2063David Pecker \u2062and Hope \u200cHicks are set \u2064to testify. Trump is charged with falsifying business records.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>NEW YORK \u2014<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/author\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> on Monday sat quietly facing forward as prosecutors recited the 34-count hush money indictment to a jury in the first criminal trial against a former president.<\/p>\n<p>A 12-person jury in Manhattan listened to the opening statements by prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, who used his time to lay out a comprehensive narrative about the facts of the case. He focused much of his opening statement describing the role of Michael Cohen, Trump\u2019s former attorney and fixer, saying his job was \u201cto take care of problems for the defendant.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Former President Donald Trump arrives at his trial, Friday, April 19, 2024, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York. (Sarah Yenesel\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Colangelo said Cohen used his own money to scrounge up $130,000 to pay to adult film star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ghislaine-maxwell-watched-epstein-have-sex-with-14-year-old-victim-participated-in-sex-encounters-testimony\/\" title=\"Ghislaine Maxwell Watched Epstein Have Sex With 14-Year-Old Victim, Participated In Sex Encounters: Testimony\">alleged sexual encounter<\/a> with Trump in 2006. Prosecutors say that marked an act of deceit against voters in the final days of the 2016 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsification of business records, a Class E felony brought by Manhattan District Attorney <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Alvin-Bragg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alvin Bragg<\/a> (D). The former president has denied having any sexual encounters with Daniels.<\/p>\n<p>Colangelo continued into the 11:00 a.m. hour on a longer narrative journey that explained to jurors how Trump\u2019s established relationship with the major media mogul overseeing the <em>National Enquirer <\/em>was used to fizzle out negative press about the then-2016 presidential candidate.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The first witness Bragg\u2019s office plans to call is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2973520\/who-is-david-pecker-media-mogul-reported-to-be-first-testimony-in-trump-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>David Pecker<\/a>, the former CEO of tabloid publisher American Media, or AMI.<\/p>\n<p>Bragg\u2019s office said Pecker was part of a broader \u201ccatch and kill\u201d scheme concocted by Trump and Cohen. Pecker would take large cash sums to hide potentially damaging information about Trump before the November 2016 election, prosecutors say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll even hear Mr. Trump suggest in his own voice, \u2018pay him in cash,&#8217;\u201d Colangelo said, facing the jury intently.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen is expected to be the prosecutors\u2019 star witness because his payments to the porn star are at the very center of Bragg\u2019s indictment.<\/p>\n<p>The district attorney\u2019s indictment alleged Trump hid the true nature of the payments in his internal records when the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen, who in 2018 pleaded guilty to charges of concealing more than $4 million in unreported income and thousands of dollars in unlawful campaign contributions.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors will utilize Pecker\u2019s testimony to help corroborate much of what the former attorney is expected to testify about, and they also have plans to invite Daniels to the stand. Trump has repeatedly said he would testify in his own defense.<\/p>\n<p>Others who are expected to testify include Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who was paid $150,000 in 2016 by the Pecker\u2019s company for the rights to her story about an alleged 10-month affair with Trump in the mid-2000s. Trump has denied her claims.<\/p>\n<p>Colangelo said Pecker will testify that $150,000 was more than the <em>National Enquirer <\/em>would typically have paid for such a deal, and that Pecker had trouble being reimbursed for it. He also said Pecker will testify that he spoke to Trump about it.<\/p>\n<p>Hope Hicks, Trump\u2019s former White House communications director, is also expected to testify. She spoke with Trump by phone during an effort to keep Daniels\u2019s allegations out of the press following the leak of the infamous <em>Access Hollywood <\/em>tape three weeks before the 2016 election. The tape, which is from 2005, revealed Trump boasting about grabbing women \u201cby the p****.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colangelo even recited the entirety of Trump\u2019s quoted transcript from the 2005 tape during opening arguments on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDonald Trump is guilty of falsifying 34 counts of business records in the first degree,\u201d Colangelo said toward the end of his opening arguments.<\/p>\n<p>To convict Trump of a felony, Bragg must show he not only falsified or caused business records to be entered falsely, which would be a misdemeanor, but that he did so to conceal another crime. Trump is not charged with an additional crime.<\/p>\n<p>But the problem for prosecutors, which Trump has already made loud and clear, is that Cohen appears to have lied to multiple branches of the federal government in just the past few years.<\/p>\n<p>Trump attorney Todd Blanche opened his arguments by stating the 34 counts against Trump are \u201cjust 34 pieces of paper.\u201d When Blanche stood up, Trump\u2019s focus shifted from the bench to his attorney.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of this was a crime,\u201d Blanche said, adding\u00a0\u201cI have a spoiler alert: There\u2019s nothing wrong with trying to influence the election. It\u2019s called democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At one point, prosecutors objected to the way Blanche was characterizing the case. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/aaron-donalds-attorney-claims-the-rams-star-was-trying-to-protect-a-victim-in-the-altercation\/\" title=\"Aaron Donald\u2019s Attorney Claims The Rams Star Was Trying To Protect A Victim In The Altercation\">defense attorney claimed<\/a> the payment to Daniels was similar to \u201cextortion.\u201d He also said that hush-money payments were negotiated through lawyers, not the former president.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is nothing illegal about opening a non-disclosure agreement,\u201d Blanche said at least twice.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Trump defense team even used their opening arguments to begin their blows on Cohen, calling him a convicted felon and a perjurer.<\/p>\n<p>Cohen \u201cblamed Trump for all of his problems,\u201d Blanche said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll learn that Michael Cohen was obsessed with Donald Trump \u2026 even to this day,\u201d Blanche said, pointing to Trump being the central focus of numerous podcasts and television appearances Cohen has participated in.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Before he sat down, Blanche pleaded for the jury to listen intently to the testimony over the next several weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUse your common sense. We\u2019re New Yorkers, it\u2019s why we\u2019re here,\u201d Blanche said, noting the 12 jurors and six alternates swore they would decide the case impartially.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This case against the former president, the first one in history, is seen by many legal experts as one of the least consequential Trump prosecutions.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>While the charges he faces can result in prison time if convicted, a guilty verdict wouldn\u2019t bar him from taking office and first time offenses typically don\u2019t result in prison sentences.<\/p>\n<p>Blanche\u2019s opening arguments were still ongoing as of 11:45 a.m. Justice Juan Merchan said the court would conclude its work for the day by 12:30 p.m. on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In New York, Donald Trump faced a 34-count hush money indictment in the first criminal trial against a former president. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo presented a detailed narrative to the 12-member Manhattan jury, with Trump listening quietly during the proceedings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2227109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24110702529746.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2227108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24110702529746.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2227108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2227109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2227108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2227108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2227108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}