Donald Trump’s successful 2016 run for the White House is at the heart of the case.
new York:
Donald Trump is the first former US president to face a criminal trial, and on Monday his defense as well as New York lawyers presented their opening arguments in the closely watched case.
The trial is a watershed moment for the country, leading up to the November election — and could include several high-profile witnesses and explosive, salacious testimony.
There are key characters involved in the lawsuit, which focuses on alleged hush money payments to a porn star and Trump’s alleged business fraud as part of a scheme to cover up those payments.
Donald Trump
Trump’s successful 2016 run for the White House is at the heart of the case.
Prosecutors allege that while he was closing in on the win, he paid adult film actor Stormy Daniels $130,000 to cover up a sexual encounter he claims Trump had with him in 2006.
It may not be a crime in itself.
But prosecutors allege that Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen then engaged in a conspiracy to hide the payments, illegally disguising the transactions as legitimate payments to Trump Organization accounts.
Trump must be present at the trial, which will keep him largely off the campaign trail as he runs for the White House again.
Stormy Daniels
Daniels, an adult film star and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, says she and Trump met in 2006 at a celebrity golf tournament.
She claims they went to Trump’s hotel room where they had sex, and the tycoon suggested she appear on his hit TV show, “The Apprentice.”
Trump has denied that ever happened, setting up a potential clash between him and his lawyers as he is expected to testify.
The insider turned down Michael Cohen
Trump’s former personal lawyer, who has never denied his “pitbull” moniker, has become a sworn enemy of the former president and will be the prosecution’s star witness.
Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 — at Trump’s request, he insists — and received a federal conviction for doing so.
He is expected to put his former boss’s alleged involvement in front of a jury, but the defense on Monday described him as a “criminal” convicted of making false statements to the U.S. Congress that “should lead to President Trump going to jail.” has the will.”
Lawyer Alvin Bragg
A self-described “kid from Harlem” who fell victim to New York Police Department tactics as a teenager, Alvin Bragg went on to study at Harvard and became the first African-American Manhattan district attorney in January 2022.
Elected on the Democratic ticket, he inherited the Trump case and was initially criticized for allegedly trying to bury it — before indicting the former president.
Bragg also led the prosecution in the Trump Organization tax fraud trial, which resulted in the trade group’s criminal conviction in 2022.
Judge Juan Mercan
Judge Juan Murchan is a respected magistrate in his 60s, the child of Colombian parents who immigrated to the United States with him.
He has a reputation among lawyers for being fair but firm.
The case is not being heard Wednesday because Merchan will appear for his duties in Manhattan’s mental health courts.
He has already drawn the ire of Trump, with the former president repeatedly attacking the judge for alleged bias.
Trump accused Mercen of being unable to ensure a fair trial because his daughter worked for a campaign organization tied to Democrats.
That prompted Merchan to expand a gag order to include his own family, preventing Trump from attacking judges and court staff.
The lawyers
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo on Monday presented the prosecution’s opening statements, outlining “a criminal conspiracy and a coverup” and accusing Trump of lying about his business records.
Colangelo is a former US Justice Department official who has already coordinated with Trumpworld, leading the New York attorney general’s civil investigation of Trump.
Trump’s attorneys, Susan Nechless and Todd Blanch, are lawyers experienced in white-collar criminal law.
Blanche previously spent 10 years as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan.
In the defense’s opening statement on Monday, he pleaded not guilty to Trump, saying his client had “nothing to do” with any of the 34 counts against him.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
