Current:Home > ContactProsecutors to make history with opening statements in hush money case against Trump -ChatGPT
Prosecutors to make history with opening statements in hush money case against Trump
View
Date:2025-04-26 09:04:22
NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in history, prosecutors will present a criminal case against a former American president to a jury Monday as they accuse Donald Trump of a hush money scheme aimed at preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public.
A 12-person jury in Manhattan is set to hear opening statements from prosecutors and defense lawyers in the first of four criminal cases against the presumptive Republican nominee to reach trial.
The statements are expected to give jurors and the voting public the clearest view yet of the allegations at the heart of the case, as well as insight into Trump’s expected defense.
Attorneys will also introduce a colorful cast of characters who are expected to testify about the made-for-tabloids saga, including a porn actor who says she had a sexual encounter with Trump and the lawyer who prosecutors say paid her to keep quiet about it.
Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and could face four years in prison if convicted, though it’s not clear if the judge would seek to put him behind bars. A conviction would not preclude Trump from becoming president again, but because it is a state case, he would not be able to attempt to pardon himself if found guilty. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Unfolding as Trump vies to reclaim the White House, the trial will require him to spend his days in a courtroom rather than the campaign trail. He will have to listen as witnesses recount salacious and potentially unflattering details about his private life.
Trump has nonetheless sought to turn his criminal defendant status into an asset for his campaign, fundraising off his legal jeopardy and repeatedly railing against a justice system that he has for years claimed is weaponized against him.
Hearing the case is a jury that includes, among others, multiple lawyers, a sales professional, an investment banker and an English teacher.
The case will test jurors’ ability to set aside any bias but also Trump’s ability to abide by the court’s restrictions, such as a gag order that bars him from attacking witnesses. Prosecutors are seeking fines against him for alleged violations of that order.
The case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg revisits a chapter from Trump’s history when his celebrity past collided with his political ambitions and, prosecutors say, he sought to prevent potentially damaging stories from surfacing through hush money payments.
One such payment was a $130,000 sum that Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer, gave to porn actor Stormy Daniels to prevent her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump from emerging into public shortly before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors say Trump obscured the true nature of the payments in internal records when his company reimbursed Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2018 and is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution.
Trump has denied having a sexual encounter with Daniels, and his lawyers argue that the payments to Cohen were legitimate legal expenses.
To convict Trump of a felony, prosecutors 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.
The allegations don’t accuse Trump of an egregious abuse of power like the federal case in Washington charging him with plotting to overturn the 2020 presidential election, or of flouting national security protocols like the federal case in Florida charging him with hoarding classified documents.
But the New York prosecution has taken on added importance because it may be the only one of the four cases against Trump that reaches trial before the November election. Appeals and legal wrangling have delayed the other three cases.
___
Tucker reported from Washington.
veryGood! (91463)
Related
- Current, future North Carolina governor’s challenge of power
- Your Next iPhone Could Have 1 Terabyte Of Storage
- Tiny Tech Tips: The Best Wireless Earbuds
- Rep. Paul Gosar shared an anime video of himself killing AOC. This was her response
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Senators Want An Investigation Of How Amazon Treats Its Pregnant Workers
- NASA's Got A New, Big Telescope. It Could Find Hints Of Life On Far-Flung Planets
- Emily Ratajkowski's See-Through Oscar Night Dress Is Her Riskiest Look Yet
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Salma Hayek and Daughter Valentina Are the Perfect Match in Coordinating Oscars 2023 Red Carpet Looks
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Elon Musk says he sleeps on a couch at Twitter headquarters and his dog is CEO in new wide-ranging interview
- Samsung says it will build $17B chip factory in Texas
- Facebook's new whistleblower is renewing scrutiny of the social media giant
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Planning for a space mission to last more than 50 years
- A drone company is working to airlift dogs stranded by the volcano in La Palma
- Lady Gaga Just Took Our Breath Away on the Oscars 2023 Red Carpet
Recommendation
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
3 Former U.S. Intelligence Operatives Admit Hacking For United Arab Emirates
More than 1 in 3 rural Black southerners lack home internet access, a new study finds
Oscars 2023: Don’t Worry Darling, Florence Pugh Has Arrived in Daring Style
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
Russia pulls mothballed Cold War-era tanks out of deep storage as Ukraine war grinds on
Get Cozy During National Sleep Week With These Pajamas, Blankets, Eye Masks & More
Voice-only telehealth may go away with pandemic rules expiring