Trump hush-money trial: prosecutor says ‘criminal conspiracy’ the focus of case in opening statement – live
Prosecutor says Trump ‘orchestrated a criminal scheme’ as former president accused of falsifying business records to cover up an attempt to influence 2016 election
- Who are the key players in the hush-money trial?
- Prosecution: 'It was election fraud, pure and simple'
- Prosecution: 'This case is about criminal conspiracy'
- Prosecution begins opening statements
- A busy legal week ahead for Trump
- Juror who expressed concerns about media attention will remain
- Trump: 'It's a very, very sad day in America'
- Court is in session
- Trump arrives at New York courthouse for opening statements
- Trump leaves for court
- What’s happening today?
- Hush-money trial to hear opening statements
Prosecution: 'This case is about criminal conspiracy'
The prosecution’s opening statement has just started. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo says:
This case is about a criminal conspiracy and fraud. The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election then, he covered up that conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over, and, over, and over again.
Trump “invited his friend, David Pecker, to a meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan”, he says. Pecker, Cohen, and Trump met “as part of that agreement, Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to an adult film actress named Stormy Daniels ... to silence her, and to make sure the public did not learn about a sexual encounter with the defendant”.
The defendant said in his business records that he was paying Cohen for legal services pursuant to a legal agreement but those were lies: there was no retainer agreement Cohen was not paying for legal services, the defendant was paying him back for an illegal payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election … he wanted to conceal his and others’ criminal conduct.
Who are the key players in the hush-money trial?
Here’s a look at some of the people who are likely to play a key role in the case.
Manhattan DA Matthew Colangelo also used Trump’s purported cheapness as evidence of motive.
Michael Cohen paid $130,000 in the Daniels payoff. But, he was ultimately repaid $420,000. Per Colangelo, Cohen and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg had met to discuss how Cohen would get repaid. They added $50,000 to the tab for “tech services” Cohen paid for during the campaign, and then doubled that sum “to account for taxes”.
The final amount Trump ultimately paid effectively showed that Trump knew his payoff was wrong. Colangelo said:
Donald Trump was a very frugal businessman. He believed in pinching pennies … He believed in negotiating every bill.
With Cohen, Colangelo emphasized, Trump did not hold back money.
Donald Trump’s willingness to do so here shows just how important it was to hide the true nature of Cohen’s [payment] to Ms Daniels and the overall election conspiracy they had launched in August of 2015.
Prosecution: 'It was election fraud, pure and simple'
Manhattan DA Matthew Colangelo said:
Look, no politician wants bad press, but the evidence at trial will show that this wasn’t spin or communication strategy. This was a planned, coordinated, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election, to help Donald Trump get elected through illegal expenditures – to silence people with something bad to say about his behavior.
He added:
It was election fraud, pure and simple.
Colangelo said “we’ll never know” whether this conspiracy made the difference “in a close election”.
While Colangelo is sticking to the facts, his word choice is keeping things interesting – which, admittedly, can be hard in a record about allegedly illicit financial records.
Among the entertaining quips was when he described a meeting between Michael Cohen and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg – who pleaded guilty – to discuss how his ex-lawyer would be repaid.
Neither Trump nor the Trump organization could just write a check to Cohen for $130,000 with a memo line that said ‘reimbursement for porn star payoff’ — they had to disguise the nature of the repayment, so they agreed to cook the books and make it look like the repayment was actually income.
“The campaign went into immediate damage control mode,” Manhattan DA Matthew Colangelo said.
The campaign quickly framed it as “locker room talk”, but not action.
Hence the danger of Stormy Daniels’ story, which came on to their radar one day after the Access Hollywood tape. The Daniels story showed that his boorish behavior extended to actions, Colangelo told jurors.
Colangelo’s narrative is key here. The prosecution is trying to establish that Trump was desperate to keep a lid on damaging info. Colangelo said:
Another story about infidelity, with a porn star, on the heels of the access Hollywood tape, would have been devastating to his campaign.
Donald Trump has been frowning while Manhattan DA prosecutor Matthew Colangelo tells the jury about Trump’s alleged affair with Stormy Daniels.
He has kept his eyes trained downwards on the table. Trump has also occasionally cocked his head to the side while fiddling with papers in front of him.
With his brow still furrowed, Trump appears frustrated for the first time as Colangelo reads out part of the infamous Access Hollywood tape to the jury, where he brags about grabbing women “by the pussy” – after which he passes a note to his lawyer Emil Bove.
On 7 October 2016, the Washington Post published a video of Donald Trump caught on a hot mic on the set of a television show called Access Hollywood – “he didn’t know he was being taped,” Manhattan district attorney Matthew Colangelo said.
Colangelo then read a transcript of Trump’s statement on the hot mic, quoting Trump saying that he could grab women “by the pussy”. Colangelo said:
Those were Donald Trump’s words, on a video, that was released one month before election day.
The prosecution has discussed the various schemes including one involving Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with the married Trump.
Manhattan district attorney Matthew Colangelo said that “Pecker will also testify that 150,000 was way more than AMI (American Media) would normally pay for this kind of story, but he discussed it with Donald Trump and he discussed it with Michael Cohen, and he agreed on the deal with the understanding what Trump would find a way to pay AMI back.”
“The company coordinated directly with the candidate,” Colangelo also said of AMI. He told jurors that they would hear Trump on tape talking about the deal.
Manhattan DA prosecutor Matthew Colangelo sketches out in his opening statement the link between Donald Trump’s alleged falsification of business records and the alleged campaign finance law violation – which is what would elevate the crimes into felonies.
Colangelo tells the jury that Trump’s “catch-and-kill” with David Pecker and the National Enquirer was all geared towards helping the Trump campaign.
There were three parts to the conspiracy, he says:
An agreement to run positive coverage in the National Enquirer
An agreement to attack opponents
An agreement to act as the “eyes and ears” for the campaign
Prosecution: 'This case is about criminal conspiracy'
The prosecution’s opening statement has just started. Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo says:
This case is about a criminal conspiracy and fraud. The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election then, he covered up that conspiracy by lying in his New York business records over, and, over, and over again.
Trump “invited his friend, David Pecker, to a meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan”, he says. Pecker, Cohen, and Trump met “as part of that agreement, Michael Cohen paid $130,000 to an adult film actress named Stormy Daniels ... to silence her, and to make sure the public did not learn about a sexual encounter with the defendant”.
The defendant said in his business records that he was paying Cohen for legal services pursuant to a legal agreement but those were lies: there was no retainer agreement Cohen was not paying for legal services, the defendant was paying him back for an illegal payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election … he wanted to conceal his and others’ criminal conduct.
Prosecution begins opening statements
Manhattan district attorney prosecutor Matthew Colangelo has begun his side’s opening statement. He says:
This case is about a criminal conspiracy. The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. Then he covered up that scheme by lying in his New York business records, over and over and over again.
Donald Trump has a furrowed brow as Judge Merchan reads the jury instructions.
He has shifted in his seat – apparently trying to get comfortable – initially leaning forward before leaning back.
Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove have been expressionless. Susan Necheles appeared to be looking at her notes.
A busy legal week ahead for Trump
Donald Trump is leaning forward in his chair as he listens to Judge Merchan read preliminary jury instructions.
It’s going to be an exceptionally busy legal week for Trump:
On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, Trump must sit in New York state criminal court for this trial about falsification of business records to influence the 2016 presidential election;
Also on Monday, a New York civil judge is set to hold a hearing to decide whether to cancel Trump’s $175m bond in his civil fraud case;
On Thursday, Trump’s legal team will argue before the US supreme court that Trump has presidential immunity and cannot be prosecuted over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
