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CNN
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Former President Donald Trump’s prosecutors and defense attorneys opened his New York criminal trial Monday by presenting conflicting sides of the case.
What was the main point of contention in a landmark August 2015 meeting between Trump, his former fixer Michael Cohen, and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker? It is clear that this is what happened, where they allegedly agreed to find and suppress negative articles that could influence Trump’s 2016 presidential election.
Cohen and Pecker will continue to facilitate hush money payments that benefit Trump. Trump’s alleged crime was to falsify documents to hide these payments after taking office. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and was sent to prison. Mr. Pecker has been cooperating with authorities.
Cohen and Pecker, who fell out with Trump, are expected to be key witnesses for the prosecution, detailing what happened during the meeting in which they conspired to find and destroy material against Trump. You are expected to do so.
05:29 – Source: CNN
Smerconish: Will Trump testify?
An open question will be whether Mr. Trump, the third person in the meeting, will come to his defense and present his side of the story.
Trump is not required to testify, but he has promised to do so. Earlier this month, before jury selection began, he was asked by a Mar-a-Lago reporter if it was risky to take the stand.
“I don’t know, I’m testifying. I’m telling the truth. I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is, there’s no lawsuit, they’re not filing a lawsuit,” Trump said. the president said.
Trump told reporters outside court last week that he wanted to testify.
But taking a stand could expose Trump to very uncomfortable questions under oath.
What prosecutors can and cannot ask if Trump testifies
As CNN’s Carla Scannell, Lauren Del Valle and Jeremy Herb, who were in the courtroom, pointed out, Judge Juan Machan took a broad stance in his ruling regarding the scope of questioning of Mr. Trump.
They added in real-time court posts that prosecutors could cross-examine President Trump regarding multiple legal setbacks in recent years.
► $464 million civil fraud verdict – It turns out that Trump fraudulently inflated the value of his property.
► Violation of gag order – These were committed during a civil fraud trial and Trump was fined $15,000.
► Liability for defamation and sexual abuse – A federal jury found that President Trump defamed former magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll when he denied rape allegations against her. Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million.
► His failed foundation – Trump reached a settlement with the New York attorney general that led to the dissolution of the foundation of the same name.
Marchan said prosecutors will question Trump if he testifies about the case against Hillary Clinton, which the judge called frivolous, and the Trump Organization’s 2022 tax fraud conviction against his company. The court ruled that it could not be done.
Joey Jackson, a CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, said in a CNN Opinion article how he expects the Trump campaign to defend itself during the trial. Jackson argued that no matter what Trump says, “game time will likely decide” whether he will testify.
When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked one of Trump’s lawyers, Will Scharf, if he thought Trump should testify, Schaaf said the decision should be based on “the way the trial is going.” Ta.
“I’ve said that I think President Trump would be a convincing witness if he testified, because at the end of the day, he did nothing wrong,” Schaaf said.
When the jury and judge saw Trump’s testimony, Trump lost.
During the first Carroll trial jury in 2023, a videotape of Trump’s deposition by his lawyers was played. At one point in that testimony, Trump mistook a photo of Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples. Read more about the video’s key moments.
Trump briefly took the stand in January 2024 in another defamation case.
03:17 – Source: CNN
President Trump speaks about business losses in sworn testimony
There was no jury in the 2023 civil fraud trial, but Trump took the stand during the trial. His bombastic and belligerent demeanor drew a rebuke from the case’s judge, Arthur Engoron, who later ordered Trump to pay a $355 million fine.
Even though he did not testify under oath in the New York criminal trial, Trump has already said quite a bit about the case, comments that could likely be introduced into evidence. In comments outside court last week, he sought to explain payments reimbursed to Mr. Cohen for payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
President Trump said, “I was paying a lawyer, but I recorded it as a legal expense.” “An accountant I don’t know recorded it as a legal expense. That’s exactly right, so I’m going to be prosecuted for that?”
In a series of tweets in May 2018, before Cohen ultimately pleaded guilty, Trump acknowledged paying Cohen and said the money was “redemption.”
Here is a summary of President Trump’s tweets.
Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly fee that did not come from and had nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into a personal bilateral agreement known as a non-disclosure agreement through redemption. N.D.A. These agreements are……
…Very common among celebrities and wealthy people. In this case, it will be in full force and effect and will be used in the arbitration of damages against Ms. Clifford (Daniels). The agreement was used to thwart false and extortionate accusations she had made about an affair.……
…Even though he had already signed a detailed document admitting that there was no affair. This was a private agreement before Ms. Clifford and her attorney violated it. Money from campaigns or campaign contributions played no role in this transaction.
Prosecutors also said jurors will hear recordings of conversations between Cohen and President Trump discussing the payments.
Another important thing to note in the prosecutors’ opening statements is that they want to portray this case as an election interference case rather than a hush money case.
CNN’s Paula Reid said of prosecutors: “They’re reframing this issue.” “Not only did they attempt to conceal this hush money payment through administrative crimes and falsification of business records, but they also attempted to interfere in the 2016 election.”
