The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump is a current criminal trial against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States. Trump faces 34 felony charges of falsifying business records relating to payments made to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about an earlier alleged affair between them. Trump is accused of falsifying these business records with the intent to violate federal campaign finance limits, unlawfully influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and commit tax fraud.[2][3][4][5] The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if Trump is convicted on five or more counts.[6][7][8][9][a] Trump is the first U.S. president to be indicted.[11][12][13]
| People of the State of New York v. Trump | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
| Full case name | The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump |
| Submitted | March 30, 2023 |
| Started | April 15, 2024 |
| Charge | First-degree falsifying business records (34 counts) |
| Citation(s) | IND-71543-23[1] |
| Court membership | |
| Judge sitting | Juan Merchan |
The indictment was approved by a Manhattan grand jury on March 30, 2023. Trump traveled from his residence in Florida to New York City on April 3, 2023, where he surrendered to the Manhattan District Attorney's office and was arraigned the next afternoon.[14][15] The trial began on April 15, 2024, and is expected to take about seven weeks.[16] Trial arguments began on April 22.[17]
Months before he was indicted, Trump announced his intention to campaign in the 2024 presidential election;[18][19] neither the indictment nor any resulting conviction would disqualify his candidacy.[20][21]
Background
Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal
In July 2006, Stormy Daniels, an American pornographic film actress, met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament in Nevada. At the time, Trump was the host of the reality TV series The Apprentice and was married to Melania Trump.[22] According to Daniels, Trump invited her to his penthouse at Harrah's Lake Tahoe[23] where the two had sex and talked about making her a guest on The Apprentice.[24][25]
In 2011, Daniels considered selling the story to the celebrity magazine Life & Style for US$15,000 as Trump began exploring a potential presidential bid. His lawyer, Michael Cohen, threatened to sue Life & Style when it asked the Trump Organization for comment. Daniels' agent, Gina Rodriguez, leaked the story to gossip blog The Dirty in October. The post was taken down following complaints by Trump's lawyers, and Daniels disputed the story's veracity.[26]
As Trump's 2016 presidential campaign began, Rodriguez approached multiple publications—including the National Enquirer—and attempted to sell the story. Following the publication of a lewd tape between Trump and the television host Billy Bush, the National Enquirer bought the story in October 2016. In an effort to help the Trump campaign, the National Enquirer sought to suppress the story. Rather than paying Daniels, the National Enquirer editor-in-chief Dylan Howard negotiated a $130,000 non-disclosure agreement between Daniels and Cohen. As the election neared, Cohen attempted to find the money and repeatedly delayed her payment. Keith Davidson, Daniels's lawyer, canceled the deal in October 2016.[23][26]
Realizing that his work to cover up the story could be revealed, Cohen drew the money from his home equity line of credit and sent it through a shell company incorporated in Delaware.[23][26] Trump initially denied knowing about the check made out to Daniels. In April 2018, aboard Air Force One, he told a reporter he did not know where Cohen got the money.[27] Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for Trump, refuted these claims in a Fox News interview, saying that Trump was aware of the payments.[28]
Trump wrote several checks, totaling $420,000, to Cohen. The checks reimbursed him for the non-disclosure agreement and covered the costs for Cohen to manipulate online polls to boost Trump's status. The $180,000 paid to Cohen was doubled to offset taxes, and $60,000 was added. These payments were made throughout 2017, during Trump's first year of his presidency.[29] The payments made to Cohen were declared as a legal expense.[30] Nine monthly checks from Trump to Cohen, dating April to December 2017, exist as evidence.[31]
In January 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported on Cohen's payment to Daniels.[32] Cohen pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts relating to the payment—as well as another payment made to Karen McDougal—in August. In his admission of guilt, Cohen implicated Trump, stating that he acted "at the direction of a candidate for federal office".[33] In December 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison.[34]
Manhattan DA investigation and grand jury
Following Cohen's August 2018 admission of guilt, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. opened an investigation against the Trump Organization and two of its executives.[35] The office paused its inquiry when the office of the federal U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York began a separate investigation into the payments,[36] but the federal inquiry concluded without charges in July 2019.[37]
The Manhattan district attorney's office then issued a subpoena for the Trump Organization in August, seeking documents relating to the payments.[38] Additionally, the office subpoenaed accounting firm Mazars USA, demanding eight years of Trump's corporate tax returns.[39] Trump's lawyers sued Vance to block the subpoena, citing Trump's immunity from criminal inquiries as the president of the United States.[40] In Trump v. Vance, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7–2 in favor of Vance, allowing the subpoena to continue.[41] Following the 2021 New York County District Attorney election, Alvin Bragg succeeded Vance as the Manhattan District Attorney.[42]
In January 2023, the Manhattan district attorney's office impaneled a grand jury, and began presenting evidence of Trump's role in the Stormy Daniels payment.[43] Cohen extensively met with the DA's office and the grand jury,[44][45][46] and by March 3, Cohen had met with the DA's office 18 times.[47][48][49] and had given his cellphones to the DA's prosecutors, who wanted evidence of communications including voice recordings of Daniels's former lawyer Keith Davidson.[50] Several other witnesses met with the DA's office or the grand jury in March 2023, including Kellyanne Conway;[51] Hope Hicks, two organization employees, two former National Enquirer executives who helped broker the hush-money deal, and a lawyer for Daniels;[52][53] Daniels herself;[54] Trump-aligned lawyer Robert Costello, who provided testimony including emails in which he attempted to discredit Cohen's reliability;[55][56] and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.[57][58][b] As early as that February, prosecutors confirmed that they might leverage additional charges including insurance fraud against Allen Weisselberg to pressure him to testify against Trump,[61] and in May, The New York Times reported that they were considering perjury charges against him.[62]
In March 2023, prosecutors signaled an indictment was likely.[63] By March 9, prosecutors had offered Trump a chance to testify before the grand jury the following week, indicating that they were likely preparing to indict him.[64][65] Around that time, Trump and his spokesperson began referring to both Daniels's allegation and the DA's proceedings as "extortion".[66] On March 10, Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina asked New York City's Department of Investigation to review the criminal probe, asserting its "weaponization".[67] On March 13, Tacopina announced that Trump would not testify.[68] Early the next morning, The Guardian reported that Trump's lawyers had argued to the DA that Trump should not be indicted on the basis that the payment did not draw from campaign funds and would have been made regardless of his candidacy.[69]
In late March, there was reporting around Daniels having reportedly unsuccessfully communicated in 2018 with Tacopina about possibly representing her in the scandal, for which the DA could move to disqualify the lawyer due to attorney–client privilege and because she reputedly disclosed confidential information to his firm.[70][71][72][73] Additionally, it reemerged that in 2018 Tacopina had called the hush-money payment "an illegal agreement", "a fraud", and "a potential campaign finance issue".[70]
On March 18, Trump claimed on his social-media platform, Truth Social, that he was to be arrested on March 21[c][d] and that the proceedings were disinformation backed by President Joe Biden, calling for protests in anticipation of a possible indictment.[76][77][78][79][80] Law enforcement and security agencies prepared for a potential indictment of Trump that week, especially in the areas of the Manhattan Criminal Court and Trump Tower, including by monitoring online threats.[79][81][82][e] New York City Police began to increase security in preparation for the expected indictment on March 21, and a second time for the second expected indictment on March 30.[84] Metal barriers were set up around Trump Tower and the district Criminal Court Building.[85] On March 24, Trump, citing his presidential prospects, insinuated that "potential death & destruction" could result from Bragg's allegedly false charge.[86][f]
Initial proceedings
Indictment and charges
The Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump on March 30, 2023.[88] The indictment was filed with the New York Supreme Court (the ordinary trial court for felonies in the state of New York and not the final court of appeal for the state) the same day.[89] The charges were under seal until published when Trump was arraigned in the Manhattan Criminal Court.[90][91]
The indictment charged Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, in violation of New York Penal Law §175.10. Each count is related to a specific business document, each having a date ranging from February 14 through December 5, 2017:[7]
- 11 for invoices from Michael Cohen
- 9 for general ledger entries for Donald J. Trump
- 3 for general ledger entries for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust
- 8 for checks from Donald J. Trump
- 2 for checks from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust
The allegedly falsified documents are related to Trump's payment to Stormy Daniels as hush money. The payments were listed in the business records as a legal expense payable to Michael Cohen, whereas the indictment alleges that they were actually to reimburse Cohen for the earlier, allegedly illicit, payment to Daniels.[92][93]
Falsifying business records in the first degree is a felony under New York state law that requires that the "intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof". This is in contrast to falsifying business records in the second degree, which is a misdemeanor that does not have that requirement.[7][92][93] In later filings, Bragg listed three such crimes that Trump allegedly intended to commit: violation of federal campaign finance limits, violation of state election laws by unlawfully influencing the 2016 election, and violation of state tax laws regarding the reimbursement.[94] Trump can move to allow the jury the option to convict on the misdemeanor charges as a lesser included offense, but is not required to do so.[95]
Each count for which Trump is convicted could result in a prison sentence of up to four years, to be served consecutively, or the judge could impose no prison sentence.[96] A conviction would not legally prohibit Trump from continuing his campaign in the 2024 presidential election, nor would he be forbidden from assuming presidency should he win, even if he were in prison.[97] Trump stated in an April 2023 Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson that he would not drop his candidacy in the 2024 U.S. presidential election if he is convicted.[98][99]
Arraignment
A law enforcement source told Reuters that police would close streets around the courthouse in advance of Trump's expected appearance on April 4.[100] On April 3, Trump flew from Palm Beach International Airport into LaGuardia Airport on his private plane, and took his motorcade to Trump Tower, where he stayed the night.[101][102] Todd Blanche, a lawyer who had defended Paul Manafort during his 2016 fraud trial, had recently resigned from his law firm to aid Trump's case.[103] Police increased security in and around Manhattan ahead of the arraignment; authorities said there were no credible threats of violence or organized plans of protests.[102] Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, warned protestors to be peaceful.[104] Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is presiding over the case.[105] Merchan denied a motion filed by media organizations to allow a television broadcast of the arraignment or to allow electronic devices to be used in the courtroom, but allowed five press pool still photographers.[106][107] Courtroom sketch artists also documented the proceedings.[108] The courtroom's glass doors were covered as a security measure.[109]
On April 4, 2023, as Trump's motorcade approached the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, he posted to Truth Social: "Can't believe this is happening in America. MAGA!"[110] Upon entering the courthouse, he was put in police custody and placed under arrest.[111][112] He was booked and fingerprinted, but he was not handcuffed, nor was a mug shot taken.[113][114] Trump entered the courtroom an hour later,[115] pleading not guilty to 34 felony charges.[116] The indictment was unsealed (publicly released) shortly thereafter, charging Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree as part of a "conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election."[117][118] At the arraignment, Merchan warned Trump not to use social media to incite violence.[119]
Possible trial dates were discussed; prosecutors proposed January 2024, but Trump's defense team objected, saying that the trial should be set for later in 2024.[120]
Immediately after the arraignment, Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago and addressed a crowd of supporters in the evening.[121][101] Trump made several false claims about topics such as his handling of government documents, Bragg supposedly being connected to George Soros and the Trump–Raffensperger phone call.[122]
Pre-trial proceedings
During Trump's arraignment, the court set deadlines for pre-trial proceedings, including for prosecutors to provide discovery to the defense.[120] The court set a deadline of August 8, 2023, for pre-trial motions to be filed.[120]
As he had done in other cases, Trump was expected to use "attack-and-delay" tactics, targeting the prosecutors and the judge while prolonging proceedings, with the result that the case might continue into late 2024, near the presidential election.[123][124]
Discovery materials and witnesses
On April 17, 2023, the DA's office requested that Merchan obtain further information from Tacopina, including his firm's correspondence with Daniels, to determine whether their history constituted a conflict of interest.[73] On September 1, Merchan ruled that it did not.[125]
Prosecutors were expected to turn over discovery materials to the defense over the next several months.[126] On April 27, Trump's team asked for the charges to be explained in full.[127] It was possible that the second crime(s) would eventually be specified in a bill of particulars,[128] but according to a governing appeals case from c. 1980 this is not necessary.[129] On May 16, the DA's office argued that it did not need to elaborate further on the basis that Trump already "has more than sufficient information to prepare his defense", while reiterating possible secondary charges.[130][131][g] Trump's team was reportedly considering invoking a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision which emphasizes the importance of specifying punishable criminal charges; additionally, a 1999 decision states that "any fact ... that increases the maximum penalty for [one] crime must be charged in an indictment ... and proved".[127]
On May 4, Merchan heard arguments about the DA office's request to restrict information it turns over to Trump's lawyers from being shared with Trump himself (at least until the trial), citing his past social-media posts attacking Bragg and witnesses. The defense has argued that the government should be equally restrained from discussing information publicly and that Trump should be allowed to defend himself politically.[132][133] On May 8, Merchan ruled in favor of the order, barring evidence from being shared on social media.[134] The judge instructed Trump and his lawyers on their conduct on May 23, informing them that violations could incur a "wide range of sanctions" including being held in contempt.[135]
On May 26, prosecutors stated that they had informed Trump's lawyers that evidence in the hush-money case includes various audio recordings, including one of Trump and a witness. It was unclear if this was in reference to secretly recorded audio from September 2016 which Cohen had previously released. In this recording, Cohen and Trump discuss the payments, with the latter seeming to ask "What financing?" and "Pay with cash?" before Cohen responds "No, no, no, no, no, no, I got ..." and Trump says, "Check."[136]
On June 3, the New York Post (a conservative tabloid) reported that a financial investigator for the DA's office had been suspended for his contact with Cohen. Lawyer for Cohen Lanny Davis stated that the conversations between the investigator and his client had been professional and were related to Cohen's security. The DA's office confirmed that it was reviewing an unspecified investigator's conduct. Trump invoked the report to baselessly claim that the investigation would be dropped, while insulting Cohen's reputation. Cohen responded by listing several Trump controversies and calling him "Mandarin Mussolini". Cohen previously used the nickname to call for tax-evasion charges against Trump in order to stop his alleged attempt to cause democratic backsliding for his own gain.[137][138]
On August 3, federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who oversaw E. Jean Carroll's civil lawsuits against Trump alleging sexual assault and defamation,[h] ruled that Carroll's lawyers could provide video of Trump being deposed to Manhattan prosecutors.[141] A deadline for the filing of all motions passed on August 8, with prosecutors given until September 19 to respond to defense motions.[126] An in-person hearing, when the motions were expected to be ruled on, was set for December 4.[126][142]
On January 15, 2024, Tacopina withdrew from Trump's counsel[143] and Daniels said she expected to testify.[144] Later in the month, the DA was reportedly beginning to meet with witnesses ahead of the trial.[145] As of February 1, Allen Weisselberg was reportedly negotiating a plea deal with the DA's office to avoid a charge of perjury regarding his testimony in the AG's civil case. He had testified that he "never even thought about" the valuation of Trump's Manhattan penthouse (being nearly tripled in square footage and worth), which Forbes subsequently revealed was false based on its communications with Weisselberg.[146][147] Weisselberg pleaded guilty on March 4, in exchange for serving a five-month jail sentence.[148]
On March 18, the judge ruled that both Daniels and Cohen could testify, placing some restrictions on Daniels (as well as Karen McDougal). The defense had requested that the two be blocked from testifying the previous month. Additionally, the judge ruled that Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tape could not be played during the trial but that it could be discussed.[149]
On April 22, Merchan ruled on what prosecutors may ask Trump if he testifies,[150] following a pretrial Sandoval hearing held April 19.[151][152][153]
Requests for recusal
On May 31, 2023, Trump's lawyers revealed that they planned to ask Judge Merchan to disqualify himself from the case on the basis of his and his family's support for the Democratic Party, including three $10–15 donations of his to Democratic causes and his daughter's role as a partner and COO of a Democratic consulting firm that serviced Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.[154][155] On June 20, the DA's office argued against the recusal request, citing Trump's alleged "prolific history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias", saying he seemed to be trying to land a more favorable judge. Prosecutors further argued that there was a lack of hard evidence that a particular trial result would aid Merchan directly or greatly via his daughter's Democratic work,[156] which a state ethics panel had similarly concluded in early May.[157]
Also on April 1, 2024, the defense asked Merchan for permission to file a motion to ask him to recuse himself on the basis that he had a conflict of interest due to his daughter's Democratic involvement.[158] On April 2; prosecutors pointed out that the court and an ethics panel had already found that the political activities of a relative are not grounds for questioning a judge's impartiality.[159] The same day, Trump posted a Fox & Friends clip in which co-host Brian Kilmeade criticizes the judge's daughter, although Trump highlighted another commentator's statement.[160] As of April 3, Trump had not deleted offending posts made prior to Merchan's expanded order;[161] that night, he linked to a report by far-right activist Laura Loomer criticizing Merchan's daughter and wife.[162] On April 5, Trump's campaign publicized their motion for Merchan to recuse himself (dated April 3),[159] which asserts numerous counts of bias, and falsely cites the state Office of Court Administration (OCA) as saying Merchan's daughter deleted her X account in April 2023, around when the judge "solicited an ethics opinion regarding recusal in a letter ... that the Court declined to disclose".[163][157] In fact, the OCA had stated that the X account was reactivated in April 2023, following a long period of disuse.[164] On April 6, Trump posted online that if arrested for violating the gag order, he would consider it a "great honor" to "become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela", the former South African president jailed for anti-apartheid activism.[165] On April 8, Trump's team asked an appeals court to delay the trial and pause the gag order while they appeal the latter; this was denied the following day.[166][167] On April 10, an appeals judge denied another defense delay request (perhaps its eleventh) which was based on Merchan having not yet ruled on the recusal motion.[168][166] On April 15, Merchan denied the recusal motion before him.[169] Another similar motion remained before the appeals court.[170]
Request for removal to federal court
On May 4, 2023, Trump's lawyers asked for the case to be moved to a federal court (though it would remain a state-law prosecution conducted by the Manhattan DA), arguing that it involved alleged conduct somehow "performed while in office"—despite the potential federal election-law violations not being specified (nor being required to) in the charges and occurring prior to Trump's inauguration.[133][131][i] As proceedings continued in the New York Supreme Court,[171] Bragg asked for the removal request to be dismissed, arguing that Trump had failed to establish that he was an officer of the United States during his presidency,[172][173] to which the defense expounded its initial argument.[174][133] Even if the case had been moved to federal court, New York state law would have continued to apply.[175]
In a hearing on June 27, District Judge Alvin Hellerstein opined that Trump's conduct likely did not constitute presidential activity.[176] On July 19, arguing that the matter was apparently a personal "cover-up of an embarrassing event", Hellerstein ruled that the case should remain in state court.[177] Trump appealed the decision on July 28,[178] but withdrew this on November 14.[179]
Trial scheduling
In early February 2024, Trump's federal election obstruction trial, originally set for early March, was postponed pending appeals, increasing the likelihood of the Manhattan criminal trial taking place as planned on March 25, 2024.[180][181] This would mark the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.[180] On February 15, Merchan confirmed the trial date and denied Trump's request to dismiss the case, with Trump in attendance.[182]
On March 11, 2024, Trump lawyers requested a delay of trial until after the federal election obstruction case on the basis that it would bolster his argument of presidential immunity, as some evidence and allegedly some acts overlapped with his time in office.[183] Trump's team cited, from April 2018, Trump's denying knowledge of the hush-money payment to reporters and tweeting in defense of Cohen's credibility.[184] Later on March 11, Merchan pointed out that Trump's team had missed the filing deadline and said either party would need his permission to file additional pretrial motions.[183] On March 3, the judge dismissed the request as untimely.[185]
Also on March 11, Trump asked to delay trial until after the Supreme Court decides whether he is generally immune from prosecution in the federal charges on election obstruction. Granting the motion would have delayed trial until mid-summer or later, as the Supreme Court had already scheduled those arguments for April 25[186] and may not rule until the end of the court's term in early July.[187] Merchan denied the motion on April 3,[188] saying that he doubted its "sincerity and actual purpose", given that Trump made this request only two weeks before trial.[189]
On March 18, Trump's team requested an additional delay on the basis that pretrial publicity and apparent anti-Trump bias in Manhattan would prohibit a fair jury from being selected in April, although only 35% in the cited poll said they were convinced Trump was guilty in the DA's case specifically. Trump's lawyers cited berating statements by Cohen, e.g. saying he served jail time because his "lying" former boss "couldn't keep his mushroom dick in his pants". On March 25, the assistant DA countered that "publicity is not likely to abate [and] the pretrial publicity has been ... exacerbated by the defendant".[190] On April 8, Trump's team asked the appeals court for a delay to allow an attempt to move the trial to a different county, which was denied the same day.[166]
On May 23, 2023, Justice Merchan set the trial for March 25, 2024.[191] Trump's team complained that he expected to have multiple trials around that time. Merchan said he would discuss rescheduling closer to the time.[192] At a February 15, 2024, hearing, which Trump attended,[193] Merchan reaffirmed the March 25 trial date.[194]
In March 2024, the U.S. Attorney's Office provided prosecutors with approximately 170,000 pages of documents, largely related to the 2017 federal probe of Cohen's payment to Daniels (and mostly reflecting evidence already turned over to Trump's lawyers in June 2023).[195][196][197] Trump's lawyers sought a delay in the trial on the basis of the newly produced records; the DA Office's said in court that only 300 of the documents were relevant to Trump's defense.[198] On March 15, 2024, the judge delayed the start of trial until mid-April.[199] On March 25, 2024, the judge set a trial date of April 15, and denied a motion by Trump's team to further delay the trial.[198]
On April 8, Trump requested to postpone the trial so the court could consider a change of venue, which was denied the same day,[200] and so he could appeal the gag order, which was denied the next day.[201] On April 10, the appeals court denied Trump's request to postpone trial on the basis of Merchan being unqualified.[202] On April 12, Merchan denied the defendant's request to delay trial on the basis of "prejudicial" media coverage.[203] On April 15, Merchan said Trump "is required to be here" on April 25 and "not required to be at the Supreme Court" that day when it hears arguments on his immunity claim in the federal election case.[204] Merchan said he was not yet prepared to say now whether trial would be held on May 17, but indicated that he probably would accept to take that day off, if the proceedings would progress in an expected pace. Trump had asked to have that day off to attend his son Barron's high school graduation.[205]
Gag order
In a May 2023 hearing and court filing, prosecutors expressed concern that Trump would misuse evidence obtained through pretrial discovery procedure to attack people involved in the case, including witnesses.[175] Justice Merchan declined to issue a gag order or prohibit Trump from publicly commenting about the case against him,[175] but issued a protective order setting rules for the use of social media involving elements of the case, and set a hearing (with Trump to appear remotely) to explain the rules.[206][207]
On February 26, 2024, the Manhattan DA asked for a gag order on Trump, noting that Trump has been fined $15,000 for two violations of a gag order in the civil fraud trial by disparaging the judge's law clerk on social media, and reporting that police had logged 89 threats to Bragg, his family, or staff in 2023 (as opposed to a single threat in 2022).[208] On March 7, Merchan ruled that the jury would be anonymous except to some involved in the trial, including Trump, his lawyers, and prosecutors.[209] On March 26, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump, restricting what he could say publicly about people involved in the case.[210] Additionally, the judge warned the defense, under the threat of contempt, against dilatory tactics such as the late filing of pretrial motions or last-minute demands, pointing out that Trump had "stated publicly that the defense goal is to delay these proceedings ... past the 2024 presidential election".[211][212] On March 26, Trump made online posts chastising the judge, the gag order, and Merchan's daughter, the latter over an anti-Trump social-media post created by someone impersonating her on social media.[213][214][215] The same day, Merchan imposed a gag order forbidding Trump to publicly comment on court staff, prosecutors, prospective jurors, or their families, or to cause others to make such statements, in a way that interferes with the case. Bragg (as a public figure) and Merchan (as the judge) were specifically exempted from protection.[216][217] The court also ordered Trump not to comment on prospective trial witnesses concerning their potential participation in the criminal case.[218]
On March 27 and 28, Trump again referenced Merchan's daughter on social media.[217][219] On March 29, prosecutors requested that the limits of the gag order be explicated regarding family of court staff in hopes of terminating what they considered intentionally defiant behavior by Trump.[214][220] On April 1, Merchan expanded the gag order to protect his and Bragg's family members, saying attacks on them "serve no legitimate purpose".[221][222] He wrote that Trump's continued attacks posted a "very real" threat to the integrity of proceedings and could cause those involved in the case to fear for themselves and their families, which would "undoubtedly interfere with the fair administration of justice and constitutes a direct attack on the Rule of Law itself."[223] On April 11, Trump disparaged expected witnesses Cohen and Daniels on social media, referring to them as dishonest "sleaze bags".[218]
Trial
The trial began on April 15, 2024, and is expected to last eight weeks, into June,[224] with recessed Wednesdays.[225] Trump is required to attend every day of trial barring a court-approved absence.[226] If he chooses to testify, prosecutors can ask him about his civil lawsuits regarding business fraud, sexual abuse, and defamation as well as the 2018 dissolution of his charitable foundation.[227] Attorneys Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles are representing him.[228] The trial is not televised.[229]
Jury selection and opening statements
On April 8, 2024, the judge gave attorneys a copy of the jury selection questionnaire,[230] with jury selection beginning on April 15[231][232] from a pool of over 500 candidates.[233]
Over the first two days, 96 potential jurors appeared, of which more than half were immediately dismissed after indicating that they could not be impartial. Nine jurors provisionally qualified on the first day, and an additional ten on the second;[234][235][236] from these 19, seven jurors were selected and sworn in. Two were excused on April 18, one of whom complained that her friends and family had recognized her from details published in the news.[236][237][238] Trump was reprimanded by the judge on April 16 for gesturing and audibly speaking in the direction of a potential juror.[239][240]
Twelve jurors, along with one alternate, were selected by April 18.[241] The selection of six alternate jurors concluded on April 19.[242][243] The jury reportedly comprises seven men and five women, who mostly have white-collar careers.[244] The jurors are allowed to tell their family and employers that they are on the jury but cannot discuss the case with them.[245] Trump apparently fell asleep for brief intervals on four out of the first five days of the trial, ahead of opening statements.[246][247][248][249]
On April 22, opening statements began.[250] Prosecutors accused Trump, Cohen, and Pecker of campaign finance violations, alleging they coordinated payments to two women and concealed them as part of a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election.[251] The defense argued that the testimony of Cohen, a convicted felon, could not be trusted; that the payments were ordinary business transactions, akin to editorial decisions made by newspapers;[252] and that in democracies it is normal for candidates to attempt to influence an election.[251]
Contempt hearing
On April 15, prosecutors asked the judge to hold Trump in contempt and fine him $3,000 for three alleged violations of the gag order against him;[241] prosecutors also requested to use the attacks on Cohen as evidence.[234][218][253] By the morning of April 18, prosecutors alleged that Trump incurred seven further violations of the order and requested that he be fined another $7,000.[241]
On April 23, 2024, Merchan heard arguments about whether Trump had violated the earlier gag order when he made social-media posts about two expected witnesses.[254] Though Merchan did not immediately rule, he criticized the credibility of the defense's counsel (e.g. chastising them for repeatedly failing to provide requested information and legal precedent).[254][255] Trump's counsel argued that reposting a news article to social media was passive, not active, which the judge said was incorrect.[256][j] The defense also declared that "Trump absolutely knows what the gag order allows him to do and does not allow him to do."[256] There will be a hearing on May 2 to consider four further violation claims.[257][258]
Prosecution case
Week 1
During their opening statements, prosecutors said the jury would be presented with a document with a handwritten note in the margin by Allen Weisselberg outlining the hush-money payment scheme.[259][260]
Prosecutors called former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker to testify on April 22, 23, 25 and 26 as the trial's first witness.[261] He had been given immunity in 2018 in a federal investigation into Michael Cohen in exchange for information regarding hush money deals.[262] During Pecker's testimony, it was implied that former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard, who Pecker stated was now living in Australia and suffering from a "spinal condition", would not testify.[261][263] It was previously reported that while Pecker and his company American Media Inc. (AMI), the National Enquirer's parent company, facilitated payment to McDougal,[264] Pecker refused to personally do the same with Daniels,[265][266] though he allegedly alerted Trump associates about Daniels's decision to go public with her affair allegation.[267] On April 23, Pecker testified that Cohen used to feed him negative stories about Trump's enemies, which Pecker's staff would then "embellish" and show drafts to Cohen to get his feedback before publishing them.[268] Pecker also detailed how he offered to deploy the "catch and kill" scheme, stating that he offered in 2015 to suppress negative stories about Trump and flag efforts by women attempting to sell stories about him.[269] The prosecution cited a state election law regarding conspiracy to defend their questioning of Pecker about his contacts with Steve Bannon, the chief executive officer of Trump's 2016 campaign.[270]
On April 25, Pecker testified that AMI suppressed negative press about other celebrities, which was emphasized by Trump's team in their cross-examination.[257] Pecker discussed his relationship with Trump prior to the 2016 campaign, during which he suppressed other negative stories about him. Pecker detailed how his company, Trump and Cohen facilitated payment to McDougal in mid-2016, in tandem with promising her a ghostwritten monthly column in an attempt to disguise the contract's true nature.[257][229][271] In September 2016, Cohen asked to purchased the boxes of McDougal's source material (valued by Pecker at $25,000) on Trump's behalf. Pecker then told Cohen that he did not want to be reimbursed for the payment to McDougal. According to Pecker, an AMI staff member leaked details of the scheme on November 4, 2016, ahead of the election, after which Pecker released a false statement that AMI had never paid anyone to kill damaging stories about Trump. AMI then amended its contract with McDougal allowing her to speak to the press.[271] Pecker also described a January 2017 meeting in Trump Tower in which Trump thanked Pecker for his work regarding McDougal and another story.[271][272][k] Pecker said his decision not to facilitate payment to Daniels (because she was a porn star) led to it being done by Cohen.[257] Pecker testified he intended to help Trump win the presidency and that he acted at Trump's behest and despite his own doubts regarding campaign finance laws.[271] Additionally, Pecker said that after receiving a letter from the Federal Election Commission about possible campaign violations in mid-2021, he signed a non-prosecution deal with federal prosecutors for his cooperation.[271]
On April 26, Trump's executive assistant Rhona Graff testified. Graff said that, when she worked outside Trump’s office in Trump Tower, she had maintained contact information for McDougal and Daniels.[273] Graff also testified to having "vaguely seen" Daniels at Trump Tower once.[274] Graff said Trump was sometimes prone to "multi-tasking" while signing checks.[31] Prosecutors then called former First Republic banker Gary Farro to the stand, where he described the process in which Cohen had opened an account under a shell company at the bank to facilitate the payment to Daniels.[274]
Expected witnesses
Cohen, Trump's former "fixer" and attorney, is expected to be a key witness. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 for campaign-finance violations for his payments to Daniels during the 2016 campaign, testifying that Trump directed him to pay Daniels during the 2016 campaign.[275]
Prosecutors also plan to call Daniels as a witness.[276] Former White House communications director Hope Hicks is expected to testify against Trump.[277][278] Other expected witnesses include Madeleine Westerhout (director of Oval Office Operations in 2019), Jeffrey McConney (the Trump Organization's former controller), and a former employee of the organization's accounting department.[279] Allen Weisselberg is not expected to testify.[280]
Trump stated on April 12, 2024, that he intended to testify in his own defense, though he is not required to. He stated that "all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there's no case."[281] On April 16, countering claims that payments to Cohen were illegitimately filed as legal expenses, Trump told reporters that "I was paying a lawyer, and I marked it down as a legal expense. ... That's exactly what it was."[282]
Reactions
See also
Notes
References
External links
- Mirror of docket — Lawfare
- Indictment – Archived April 4, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- Statement of Facts – Archived April 4, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
- CNN timeline of the Donald Trump hush money case
- People v Donald J. Trump (Criminal) decisions & orders at NYCourts.gov
- People v Donald J. Trump transcripts at NYCourts.gov