Former president Donald Trump lashed out at reporters and cameras outside a Manhattan criminal courtroom on Monday
“It’s very unfair what’s going on, and I should be allowed to campaign,” he exclaimed as he exited the courthouse. “We did nothing wrong.”
Facing 34 counts of falsifying business records, Mr. Trump is accused of orchestrating a “criminal conspiracy” to suppress politically compromising stories about alleged affairs, in an effort to protect his reputation during the 2016 presidential election.
The trial began with Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo characterizing the case as a “criminal scheme” orchestrated by Mr. Trump to corrupt the election and then cover it up by falsifying business records.
David Pecker, the former CEO of American Media Inc, testified as the trial’s first witness, shedding light on the alleged “catch-and-kill” scheme Mr. Trump devised in collaboration with his-then attorney Michael Cohen and Mr. Pecker.
During the prosecution’s opening statements, Mr. Colangelo emphasized that the scheme was not merely a communications strategy but a coordinated conspiracy amounting to election fraud.
While Mr. Trump sank in his chair during these statements, his lead attorney, Todd Blanche, argued in the defence’s opening statement that there was nothing illegal about attempting to influence an election.
The defence characterized the payments to Mr. Cohen as legal fees for services rendered and emphasized Mr. Trump’s efforts to protect his reputation and family amidst what they termed “salacious allegations.”
The trial’s focus is on whether Mr. Trump disguised reimbursements to Mr. Cohen as legal fees across 34 business records, including invoices and checks.
The prosecution outlined a “catch-and-kill” agreement with the National Enquirer, which aimed to bury politically damaging stories and boost positive ones for Mr. Trump’s campaign.
However, Mr. Blanche dismissed the charges, arguing that they were simply 34 pieces of paper, including invoices and checks, and not evidence of any crime.
While the defence sought to discredit witnesses like Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, who played key roles in the case, prosecutors highlighted Mr. Trump’s repeated violations of a gag order in other cases.
The trial will resume on Tuesday morning, and Mr. Trump faces the possibility of testifying, which would open him up to scrutiny about his past conduct, including fraud and defamation rulings.
Despite Mr. Trump’s insistence that the trial is unfair, the proceedings mark a historic moment as the first-ever criminal trial of a former American president
