Donald Trump arrived, Monday, April 22, at the criminal court of the State of New York, on the island of Manhattan, for the first day of debates in his criminal trial in the case of concealed payments to purchase the silence of Stephanie Clifford, known as an porn star under the pseudonym Stormy Daniels, just before the 2016 presidential election. After a first week devoted to jury selection, twelve full jurors – seven men and five women, and six alternates – are ready to judge the Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
“It’s a very, very sad day for America,” said Donald Trump before entering the hearing room, denouncing as usual “a witch hunt” and a political operation carried out from the White House. The case threatens Mr. Trump with conviction and a possible prison sentence a few months before the presidential election on November 5, where he dreams of a revenge against Joe Biden. For Bennett Gershman, a former New York prosecutor and law professor at Pace University in New York, “this is going to be probably the most sensational trial in American history.”
On his Truth Social platform, the Republican billionaire once again fulminated on the night of Sunday to Monday against Juan Merchan, the judge who presides over the proceedings, whom he described as “corrupt”. “It’s a sham” trial, Donald Trump also wrote, in capital letters.
Donald Trump denies this relationship
“This case is one of criminal conspiracy and cover-up,” Matthew Colangelo told jurors Monday, on behalf of the prosecutors’ office, during the prosecution’s first address. One of Donald Trump's lawyers, for his part, assured that his client was "totally innocent" and had "committed no offense." “This case should never have gone to trial,” Todd Blanche told the jury.
Manhattan prosecutors must present the charges to the jury and try to demonstrate that the case goes well beyond the thirty-four falsifications of Trump Organization accounting documents with which the Republican billionaire is accused.
According to the prosecution, these alleged forgeries made it possible to conceal, under the cover of "legal fees", the payment of $130,000 to actress Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence about a sexual relationship ten years earlier with Donald Trump, while he was married to Melania Trump. The former American president has always denied this relationship, and in his defense, who will speak after the prosecutors, the payments fall within the private sphere.
The team of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg intends to prove that these were, on the contrary, fraudulent maneuvers to hide information from voters a few days before the vote and the Republican's narrow victory against Hillary Clinton. Several witnesses are expected to reveal the underside of the campaign and say that other embarrassing allegations had been suppressed thanks to the complicity of an American tabloid which bought the information so as not to publish it.
“Political persecution”
The jurors will be confronted, among others, with the testimony of Stormy Daniels herself or Michael Cohen, former lawyer for Donald Trump. It was he who paid the actress – at the request of his boss, he assures – with his own money, and he has already been convicted by the courts in this case.
Mr. Trump castigates an empty file and denounces political persecution by increasing the invectives against Judge Merchan and Prosecutor Bragg. Prosecutors also asked the judge to sanction him for violating the ban on attacking witnesses and jurors, an issue that will be debated Tuesday.
Donald Trump's mandatory presence at his hearings prevents him from campaigning normally, while his rival Joe Biden tries to score points. On Saturday, the Republican also had to cancel a meeting in North Carolina because of bad weather.
The stakes are all the higher as this trial could be the only one to conclude before the presidential election, among the four criminal cases targeting Donald Trump. He is accused in particular before federal justice in Washington of “conspiracy against American institutions” for his allegedly illicit attempts to reverse the results of the 2020 election.
