Donald Trump will make history Monday as the first former president to be judged with criminal charges, a turning point for American politics, the presidential election, and Trump himself.
Trump – the Presumptive Republican nominee for the president – is required to attend the entire trial, which can last up to eight weeks. He begged not guilty 34 falsifying employment records, a low-level misdemeanor punishable by up to four years in prison. The trial begins on Monday with a jury choice.
The charges are related to Trump’s first bid for the presidency in 2016. Prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office allege he participated in the election. scheme with then-lawyer Michael Cohen and the publisher of the National Enquirer to quell scandalous stories about him in the lead-up to Election Day.
One of those stories was about a porn star Stormy DanielsClaiming that he had sex with Trump in 2006, Trump denied this claim, and Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 in October 2016 to remain silent on this claim. After he was elected, Trump paid Cohen what were recorded as legal fees at his company — documents the DA alleges were falsified to keep the hush money payments secret.
Trump has claimed he did nothing wrong and has derided the case as part of a politically motivated “witch hunt” against him, a claim he has used to galvanize and incite his supporters. millions of dollars in raising funds for his campaign.
This was the criminal case ffirst hef fohit It is the only case filed against Trump in four different jurisdictions that will go to trial before the election.
Because Trump is required to be in court four days a week (trial does not take place on Wednesday), he ability to campaign personally limited to when the court is not in session. But as he has done during previous New York trials, Trump is likely to speak publicly during breaks and after the court breaks for the day.
It comes despite the start of the trial numerous last–trench efforts Trump filed an appeal, including accusing Judge Juan Merchan of a conflict of interest because his daughter’s media firm worked for Democratic candidates, arguing that the judge’s partial gag order against him was “unconstitutional” and that it was impossible for him to be tried in Manhattan. A large amount of pre-trial publicity should be done around the case in order to bring it to trial.
The DA’s office countered in a lawsuit that, “Given the sheer size of New York County, this is absurd. [Trump] to pretend that it would be impossible, if not impossible, to find a dozen fair and impartial jurors, and, moreover, substitutes, among more than a million people.
The jury selection process expected to take a week or two. Two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told NBC News that 6,000 jurors were called to Manhattan criminal courts this week, 2,000 more than a typical week.
Merchan announced a methodical system for whittling down the grand jury to 12 jurors and six jurors who could be “fair and impartial” about the deeply polarizing Trump.
Eighteen jurors will be placed in the jury box at once and each will read aloud their answers to a series of questions in sequence. 42 questions. Questions include what news sources they follow, whether they’ve ever attended Trump rallies or anti-Trump protests, and whether they support QAnon or antifa.
The form does not ask about party affiliation, political contributions or voting history, but the judge said the answers to those questions “could be readily obtained from the answers to the other questions.” After the 42 questions are answered, prosecutors can ask jurors a series of additional questions, and then Trump’s attorneys can give their answers.
Merchan cautioned both sides not to “seek to expand the degree of interference beyond what is appropriate and has already been approved” and rejected a request by Trump’s attorneys to ask jurors if they “dislike” the former president.
“These kinds of questions are irrelevant because they don’t go into the qualifications of prospective jurors,” he said. order It was announced to the public on April 8. “The key issue is whether prospective jurors can set aside any personal feelings or prejudices to ensure that we reach a decision based on the evidence and the law,” the order said.
There will be one in court anonymous jury, that is, the identities and addresses of the judges will not be disclosed to the public. The judge said the move was “necessary because of the possibility of bribery, jury tampering, or physical harm or harassment of the juror(s).
The trial is the first criminal case involving a former president, but it is Trump’s fourth trial in New York as a defendant since leaving office. The writer sued him twice E. Jean Carroll and he and his company were accused of sexual harassment and defamation fraud In a civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The verdicts against him in the three cases he is appealing are about $550 million.
Zoe Richards contributed.