Live Updates: Tabloid Publisher Is First Witness Called in Trump Criminal Case

 

Live Updates: Tabloid Publisher Is First Witness Called in Trump Criminal Case

 

Prosecutors called David Pecker, the longtime publisher of The National Enquirer, to the stand. They say he was part of a plot to cover up a sex scandal in which Donald J. Trump falsified business records. A lawyer for Mr. Trump insisted his client “did not commit any crimes.”

 

Jonah E. Bromwich

Ben Protess

Updated

April 22, 2024, 12:31 p.m. ET7 minutes ago

Jonah E. Bromwich and Ben Protess

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/04/22/nyregion/trump-hush-money-trial

 

Here’s the latest in the trial.

Prosecutors in the first criminal trial of an American president began laying out their case for a jury of 12 New Yorkers on Monday, saying Donald J. Trump engaged in a conspiracy to cover up a sex scandal in order to get elected president in 2016.

 

The first witness called was the tabloid publisher David Pecker, whom prosecutors described as one member of a three-man plot to conceal damaging stories — including a porn star’s account of a sexual tryst — as Mr. Trump mounted his bid for the presidency.

 

Mr. Pecker was on the stand for only a few minutes in the afternoon before testimony ended for the day, describing how his publication, The National Enquirer, paid for stories, a practice he called “checkbook journalism.” He is expected to return to the stand on Tuesday.

 

Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, told the jury in his opening statement that he case was about “a criminal conspiracy and a coverup,” describing how Mr. Trump, his longtime counsel Michael D. Cohen, and Mr. Pecker engaged in a strategy to “catch and kill” negative stories.

 

The lead lawyer for Mr. Trump, Todd Blanche, insisted in his opening statement that the former president had done nothing wrong. “President Trump is innocent,” he told the jury. “President Trump did not commit any crimes.”

 

The cases centers on a $130,000 hush-money payment that Mr. Cohen made to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, to buy her silence as the 2016 campaign was winding down. Prosecutors say he was reimbursed by Mr. Trump, and Mr. Trump falsified business records to conceal his conduct.

 

Mr. Trump’s willingness to go to the trouble, Mr. Colangelo said, “shows just how important it was to him to hide the true nature of Cohen’s illegal payment to Ms. Daniels and the overall election conspiracy that they had launched.”

 

Mr. Cohen, who was an executive vice president at the Trump Organization and counsel to Mr. Trump, and Mr. Pecker are expected to be central witnesses.

 

Mr. Blanche attacked Mr. Cohen’s credibility, saying that his livelihood hinges on attacking the former president, and insisted that prosecutors were attempting to present perfectly legal activities, such as entering into nondisclosure agreements, in a negative light.

 

“I have a spoiler alert: There’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election,” Mr. Blanche said. “It’s called democracy.”

 

He continued: “They put something sinister on this idea as if it were a crime. You’ll learn it’s not.”

 

Here’s what else to know about the trial:

 

The Manhattan criminal case against Mr. Trump was unveiled a year ago by the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg. Mr. Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and if convicted could face up to four years in prison. It is the former president’s first criminal trial — he has been indicted three other times in three other cities. With those other cases tied up in appeals and other delays, the Manhattan case may be the only one he faces before the 2024 presidential election. The trial is expected to last six weeks.

 

Before opening statements, the judge overseeing the case delivered a crucial ruling that determined what prosecutors can question Mr. Trump about should he decide to take the stand in his own defense. The ruling, a significant victory for prosecutors that might prompt Mr. Trump to decide not to testify, allows them to question him about several recent losses he suffered in unrelated civil trials, including a fraud case this year in which the former president was found liable for conspiring to manipulate his net worth and was penalized $454 million.

 

The jury was drawn from a pool of residents of Manhattan, where Mr. Trump is deeply unpopular; during jury selection, dozens of prospective jurors were excused because they said they could not be impartial. But the jurors who were selected each pledged to decide the case based only on the facts. Read more about them.

 

The case will receive vast media attention, but the proceedings won’t be shown on television.