(MENAFN) The highly anticipated Donald Trump hush money trial commenced on Monday, marking a historic moment as it represents the first instance of criminal charges being brought against a former US president.
With Trump present in the New York courtroom, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo delivered the opening arguments, outlining the case to the jury regarding the 34 criminal counts faced by the former president, as reported by various media outlets.
During his presentation, Colangelo asserted that Trump collaborated with his former attorney and "fixer" Michael Cohen, as well as David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid. Their purported aim was to orchestrate payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, allegedly to prevent them from disclosing their alleged sexual encounters with Trump.
Prosecutors disclosed that the "catch and kill" scheme, aimed at silencing Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, incurred expenses exceeding USD130,000 and USD150,000, respectively. These payments, according to prosecutors, were falsely categorized by Trump as business expenses, allegedly to mask what they describe as illegal election fraud.
"This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up," stated Colangelo. "The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. Then he covered up the criminal conspiracy by lying in his New York state business records over and over and over again."
On the opposing side, Trump's defense attorney Todd Blanche shifted the narrative, presenting a contrasting viewpoint. Blanche argued that Michael Cohen, the prosecution's central witness, was not credible and labeled him as a liar who harbored an "obsession" with Trump. Blanche further asserted that Cohen's own professional success was intricately tied to Trump's reputation being tarnished. Blanche stressed that Trump had not committed any illegal acts, attempting to refute the prosecution's allegations.
"Spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence the election. It’s called democracy," declared Blanche. "President Trump did not commit any crimes."
Blanche also endeavored to humanize the former president in the eyes of the jury.
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